Army Seeks to Optimize Aviation Assets
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By Bettina H. Chavanne
NASHVILLE
The Fiscal 2010 defense budget had not been released during the annual Army Aviation Assn. of America (Quad A) show here, May 3. But leadership was fairly positive about the state of its branch.
“Army aviation will be just fine,” aviation branch chief Maj. Gen. James Barclay told reporters. “We won’t get every dime we want, but we have lots of supporters.”
Not even one day after the show closed, the Army announced that out of a $142.1-billion budget for FY10, $5.3 billion was requested for aircraft procurement, an amount that for many fell somewhere in the middle of expectations.
Demand for Army aviation assets is at an all-time high and predicted to grow. As operations move from Iraq to Afghanistan and the terrain gets more challenging, there are missions suited only to mounted vertical maneuver. For the moment, the CH-47 Chinook is the only aircraft that breathes easily in the thin mountain air.
The aging OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, slated for an overhaul under the Life Support 2020 program, is power-deficient in high-hot operations. Under an earlier plan, a service life extension plan (SLEP) would have provided the Kiowa an upgraded power train. With operations in Afghanistan straining most helicopters, SLEP would have given the Kiowa the power it needs. But the Army made a decision to postpone SLEP and proceed instead with Life Support 2020, said Brig. Gen. William Crosby, program executive officer for aviation.
Army aviation is in the midst of a top-down review of aircraft assets. There’s the Future Vertical Lift Capabilities-Based Assessment, a joint effort. The service is also working with the Air Force on a Joint Future Theater Lift (JFTL) Initial Capabilities Document. Then there is the lead-up Material Development Decision required for a full analysis of alternatives, the AOA itself and the key performance parameters for the canceled Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH). And now the launch of the so-called Aviation Study II, a follow-up to Aviation Study I, conducted in 2003.
Aviation Study II has 12 focus areas and the overarching goal of “looking beyond ARH,” says Lt. Gen. J.D. Thurman, deputy Army chief of staff, who introduced the concept at Quad A. First, the cancellation of ARH led Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to approve a strategy to upgrade the aging OH-58D Kiowa Warrior fleet. After a Safety Enhancement Program brings the fleet up to current standards, a Life Support 2020 program will extend the aircraft for another decade. National Guard units operating AH-64As will be converted to the newer Longbow model under this plan. And the directive to conduct an AOA is also included in Aviation Study II, which will be completed, the Army claims, in 60‑90 days.
The studies overlap somewhat, but they’re not perfectly synchronized, according to Brig. Gen. Walter Davis, director of Army Aviation. “The Future Vertical Lift Capabilities-Based Assessment will help inform us on future gaps,” Davis adds. And Aviation Study II will not focus on specific platforms, but rather on concepts that need to be addressed, Barclay said.
Looming on the horizon is the Program Objective Memorandum (POM) for Fiscal 2012. If the AOA and JFTL Initial Capabilities Document are not complete in time to inform the POM, start dates on new projects are again pushed out until POM 2014. “It will be very tight,” Davis acknowledged. “It’s still our intent” to get the study plans developed, approved and moved out in time to meet the 2012 deadline.
When the Army unveiled its budget plans, it said the budget request would cover items including procurement of Sky Warrior systems “to extend unmanned aerial vehicle reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities,” new UH-60M/HH-60M Blackhawk helicopters, modernization of the National Guard’s AH-64As and continuing the transition of the CH-47D model to the F configuration.
The budget still has to move through Capitol Hill. And the Army has to gather and evaluate the results of its many aviation studies, which could take years. The shape of the future fleet will not be determined by the time the Fiscal 2010 budget is enacted, but it will be a strong indicator of what lies ahead.
Photo: Boeing
