The New H-1s

Navy gives Bell higher marks on schedule and costs as first utility choppers are delivered

By AMY KLAMPER, Seapower Correspondent

Marine units burning through their Vietnam-era utility and attack helicopters in Iraq and Afghanistan may get a reprieve as the Navy begins rolling out a rehabbed version of the Marine Corps H-1 helicopter.

In late September, Bell Helicopter delivered to the Marines the first two production UH-1Y light utility helicopters during a ceremony at the company’s plant in Amarillo, Texas. The upgraded choppers, known as “Hueys,” come in two variants: the UH-1Y and the AH-1Z attack helicopter.

Delores Etter, Navy assistant secretary for research, development and acquisition, said the H-1 rollout marks a major milestone for the program. It is an effort that will “arm our service personnel with sorely needed modern equipment that will substantially increase their combat effectiveness,” she told reporters at the Sept. 27 event.

The H-1 program, begun in 1995, aimed to remanufacture 280 helicopters, including 100 UH-1N and HH-1N utility helicopters into UH-1Ys and 180 AH-1W helicopter gunships into AH-1Zs, for roughly $3.4 billion. But as the Marines changed the helicopters’ requirements, Bell ran into numerous engineering and manufacturing problems involved with rehabbing the 25-to-30-year-old aircraft. During that time the program’s budget more than doubled, to $8 billion.

The Marine Corps decided in 2005 to terminate the plan to remanufacture UH-1N Hueys into UH-1Ys and instead build new ones. The current plan still involves remanufacture of AH-1Ws into AH-1Zs.

Navy officials have criticized Bell’s performance on the program, and even sent a letter to the company in April threatening to cancel it due to continued delays and cost overruns. The Pentagon restructured the program following the Navy’s stern warning to the company to make fundamental changes in the program’s management.

U.S. lawmakers have also been critical of the program, particularly in the Senate where $132 million was stripped from the Navy’s $454.5 million request for fiscal 2007 to cover the cost of upgrading 18 of the helicopters, including a new four-bladed rotor system, new transmissions and improved landing gear.

In report language accompanying the Senate version of the bill, the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee expressed concern with the H-1’s cost and schedule overruns, noting that the program has been restructured four times since its inception. Specifically, the committee noted the program’s unanticipated technical issues, the five- to seven-month delivery delay in its low rate initial production schedule, and an increase of $640 million in total program costs.

The committee also said it was concerned that Bell’s deficient cost control and cost accounting procedures could set the stage for similar problems with other Bell contracts, including the Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey, Special Operations Command’s CV-22 Osprey, the VH-71 presidential helicopter and the Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter programs.

As a result, Senate appropriators urged the Pentagon to thoroughly review cost-control and cost-accounting procedures for Bell’s helicopter acquisition programs, as well as those of other prime helicopter manufacturers.

But in recent conference negotiations, House and Senate appropriators agreed to reduce funding for the H-1 procurement upgrade by only $70 million “due to delay and restructuring of the program,” according to a Senate Appropriations Committee summary of the 2007 Defense Appropriations Act.

Greg Hubbard, a spokesman for Bell Helicopter, said the company has committed significant resources to meet its production obligations on the H-1 program.

“We recognize the importance of this program to the warfighter and are working hard to maintain our production timeline,” he said. “The recent roll-out of the first AH-1Z and UH-1Y affirms the progress we have recently made and are on track to deliver the first four helicopters this year. Additional manufacturing experience, coupled with increased production rates, give us confidence that our costs will also improve.”

Navy officials concur that Bell has come a long way in meeting the program’s revised production schedule, tracking progress and reining in costs.

If this progress continues, the H-1’s next major milestone will involve getting the upgraded helicopters through operational evaluation and testing, which Navy officials expect to take place over the next couple of years. At that point, the Marines could approve the move from low-rate production to full production, assuming Bell is able to maintain its current schedule.

However, at press time, the H-1 was slated to go before the Pentagon’s Defense Acquisition Board for another review this fall. Led by Ken Krieg, the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer, the review is expected to determine whether to proceed with the helicopter program.

Bell said the upgraded helicopters will have increased maneuverability, speed and payload capability. This will include a new four-bladed rotor system and drive system and upgraded landing gear. The rehabbed choppers will provide offensive air and utility support, armed escort and airborne command and control during naval expeditionary operations or joint and combined operations.

The UH-1Y would be armed with rockets and machine guns, while the AH-1Z would add missiles, bombs and a 20mm cannon to the arsenal.

In ongoing operational tests, the H-1 has demonstrated key lift capabilities, though some technical glitches affecting weapons systems have been discovered.

The two variants share common tail boom, engines, rotor system, drive train, avionics architecture, software, controls and displays, which Bell expects will drive down maintenance costs while improving reliability. Bell, which has been manufacturing the H-1 for the Marines for more than 50 years, said the new helicopters will be more reliable than their predecessors, leading to $3 billion in maintenance savings over a 30-year period.