Vertical Flight

The Air Force's contract with Boeing to develop and field a new MH-139 utility helicopter fleet allocates $408 million for development and $1.9 billion for procurement, a price tag that is roughly half the estimated total program cost the service forecasted in budget documents for the UH-1N Huey replacement program earlier this year.

Sikorsky and Sierra Nevada Corp. confirmed today they will not protest the Air Force's decision to replace the Bell UH-1N Huey with Boeing and Leonardo Helicopter's MH-139, freeing the service to move ahead with the long-awaited procurement. (UPDATED)

The Navy is moving "as fast as [it] can" on the CMV-22 Osprey program and cannot increase its speed, according to the Navy's top air warfare requirements officer.

The Army has been paying out three-year bonuses as an incentive to retain experienced pilots, according to the service's aviation head.

The Marine Corps expects to receive the last delivery of its AH-1Z Viper by early 2022, according to the manager of the Light/Attack Helicopter Program.

Squadron commanders in the Marine Corps failed to appropriately disclose the readiness of their aircraft due to uncertain standards and a lack of oversight, the Defense Department inspector general has found.

With big promises from the Army, Congress wants questions answered on some of the service's Future Vertical Lift and Mobile Protected Firepower programs.

The Air Force will delay the contract award in the UH-1N Huey replacement program for at least a year if Congress doesn't authorize an $83.4 million infusion to keep the effort on track, according to a copy of the Defense Department's June omnibus reprogramming request obtained by Inside Defense this week.

Senate authorizers want the Navy to explore creating a derivative of the Marine Corps' new heavy-lift helicopter to provide capabilities lost when the Navy's MH-53E Sea Dragons retire, according to the report accompanying the committee's version of the fiscal year 2019 defense policy bill.