By Marina Malenic
The Air Force’s acquisition executive said yesterday that the service plans to recommend a strategy to procure helicopters to patrol the nation’s ICBM fields “by the end of March.”
The Air Force is considering a sole-source arrangement with the Army to buy approximately 90 Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters for its Common Vertical Lift Support Platform (CVLSP) program (Defense Daily, Nov. 29). “It is an alternative,” David Van Buren, the principal deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, said yesterday of that strategy.
Van Buren will recommend a preferred Air Force strategy to senior Defense Department officials later this month, he said.
He was speaking at a conference in Arlington, Va., sponsored by Credit Suisse.
Top Air Force brass have previously said they favor procuring an off-the-shelf piece of equipment for the mission. They have said the service is considering invoking the United States Economy Act of 1932 to buy new helicopters. The act would allow the Air Force to buy 93 helicopters without the need for competitive bids. The new aircraft would replace the Bell Helicopter Textron [TXT] UH-1Ns currently in service.
The Air Force wants to replace both the Hueys and its HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopter fleet. Top officials have previously stated that platform commonality in the two fleets is seen as a major advantage to the military.
Under the sole-source proposal, the Air Force would add its order for the helicopters to an Army contract with Sikorsky, a division United Technologies [UTX]. The Army would sell the aircraft to the Air Force. Black Hawks, from which the Pave Hawk is derived, cost the Army $12 million to $13 million apiece, but Air Force modifications could cost several million more, according to industry officials.
By contrast, an AugustaWestland AW139 runs in the neighborhood of $10 million to $12 million and would be a good fit for the Air Force’s needs, company executives have said. EADS North America and Bell are also said to be interested in the deal. Several industry sources say that one or more of those companies could lodge a protest if the Air Force goes ahead with a sole-source buy.