On February 8, the U.S. Army made several major announcements about the future of its helicopter inventories, including canceling the next-generation Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft program. This decision will affect the retrofit, modernization, and sustainment outlook for the Army’s core platforms in the coming decade.
The Army is changing its policy on the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP), the CH-47 Block II upgrade project, and the UH-60V program, in favor of additional UH-60M acquisitions.
The ITEP project, intended to provide a long-term successor for the aged T700 powerplant suites of the H-60 and AH-64 platforms, has been postponed due to supply chain and manufacturing disruptions.
The cancellation of the UH-60V upgrade program will reconfigure expenditures associated with the Black Hawk platform, shifting focus to new-build manufacture.
The Army’s decision to commit to a fleet-wide SLEP Block II upgrade program for the CH-47 platform represents a fortuitous development for both Boeing and the future capability profile of U.S heavy-lift inventories. This upgrade includes new transmissions, rotor heads, strengthened airframes, upgraded electrical systems, higher-capacity fuel tanks, and software updates.
