Vertical Flight

The Defense Department has awarded Sikorsky a multiyear procurement contract worth up to $3.8 billion for Black Hawks for the U.S. Army and Saudi Arabia, according to a pair of recent announcements.

The House Armed Services Committee is joining the latest push to field a replacement for the 1960s-era UH-1N Huey sooner in the committee's mark of the fiscal year 2018 defense policy bill, citing top military officials' comments to illustrate the need for a sole-source contract.

The Pentagon wants to consolidate all remaining MV-22 orders -- 67 tiltrotor Ospreys -- into a single, $5.7 billion contract that would run seven years and lower the program's tab by $648 million compared to annual purchases, a move that would provide significant stability to the Bell-Boeing and Rolls Royce team that builds the aircraft.

The Navy is looking to replace its training helicopter fleet and anticipates releasing a request for proposals for the effort in late fiscal year 2019 or early FY-20, according to the service.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis plans to ask Congress to reach the bipartisan consensus needed to pass the Trump administration’s fiscal year 2018 defense budget and will pledge to follow up in FY-19 with a request that will increase the size of the military.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis plans to ask Congress to reach the bipartisan consensus needed to pass the Trump administration’s fiscal year 2018 defense budget and will pledge to follow up in FY-19 with a request that will increase the size of the military.

The Pentagon's fiscal year 2018 budget request proposes trimming 11 aircraft -- or 17 percent -- from planned MV-22 Osprey aircraft purchases across the Navy and Marine Corps' five-year spending forecast, while also seeking authorization for a seven-year block buy of the Bell-Boeing-built weapon system.

The president's budget request for fiscal year 2018 includes $4.6 billion for Army aircraft procurement, with multiyear buys of the AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk dominating the spending.

While the Navy maintains the CH-53K program is on schedule, a key Pentagon office says the heavy-lift helicopter won't be ready to deploy until a full year after the service's planned timing.