The US Army plans to conduct a fly-off from mid-year among aircraft types competing for its fast-moving, $1.3 billion light utility helicopter (LUH) order.
The demonstration is expected to attract a handful of contenders, including possible front-runners the Bell 210, the AgustaWestland A109S Grand or A119 Koala and Eurocopter's EC135 or EC145.
Dyncorp also plans to offer a proposal based on an upgrade of Bell's UH-1 Huey.
A contract award has been set for September, the last month of fiscal year 2005. The army is planning an initial order for three aircraft, to be followed by a second batch of 28 to be contracted in December 2006. The service plans to buy a total of 322 aircraft for an average price of $3.6 million, including a logistics support package.
The LUH is intended to provide a light transport capability, mainly for US Army National Guard units based in the USA. The army has ruled out deployments to hostile zones and now even to "permissive environments" overseas, although 22 aircraft will be staged at a US base in Germany. The benign role has been driven by a cost-saving effort by the army to acquire an aircraft with certification by the US Federal Aviation Administration (Flight International, 10-16 May). Paul Bogosian, army programme executive officer for aviation, says the FAA certification requirement means the army will buy a strictly off-the-shelf airframe.
The Bell 210, a remanufactured surplus UH-1H, is being offered for less than $3 million per aircraft with a direct operating cost of less than $500/h, says Mike Miller, Bell's LUH programme manager. Clearing the FAA certification hurdle for the Bell 210 has been delayed by three months to 6 June.
Source: Flight International
