USAF close to releasing tender for four-way battle between rotorcraft suppliers for search-and-rescue requirement
Industry officials expect the US Air Force to issue a delayed tender for a new combat search-and-rescue (CSAR) fleet by late September, ending two years of internal debate about whether it should buy an all-helicopter fleet or split the contract to also include tiltrotor aircraft.
Preparations for the CSAR-X programme’s solicitation process are moving ahead after a six-week delay caused when the US Department of Defense’s top acquisition officials, led by undersecretary Ken Krieg, questioned the air force’s acquisition strategy. Krieg raised some “good questions” for the USAF to answer, said service chief of staff Michael Moseley during last week’s Air Force Association convention.
The debate is believed to have focused on the role of “transformational technology” such as tiltrotors in the CSAR-X mission. The USAF’s decision to break the programme into baseline Block 0 and more advanced Block 10 standards is also seen as controversial.
Platforms on offer to meet the 141-aircraft requirement include Boeing’s proposed HH-47 variant of the MH-47G Chinook and the Lockheed Martin/AgustaWestland US101. Sikorsky has teamed with Boeing to offer the HH-92, while a variant of the Bell-Boeing CV-22 tiltrotor remains a contender, but its viability may depend on major changes to the requirement.
The air force had planned to use its Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk fleet for many years until a 1999 analysis of alternatives led to a funded strategy in 2003 to procure a mixed fleet of helicopters and an aircraft with tiltrotor-like performance. But the USAF this year abandoned the split-buy plan and reduced its speed requirement to 135kt (250km/h).
Source: Flight International
