:

Army

Too Few Pilots, Maintainers Threaten Incoming Afghan UH-60 Fleet

Friday, February 1st, 2019

SHARE:

Too Few Pilots, Maintainers Threaten Incoming Afghan UH-60 Fleet

An Afghan Air Force UH-60 Blackhawk piloted by an Afghan and American pilot fly in formation Dec. 8, 2018, while participating in the NATO led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Clayton Cupit)

There are too few Afghan Air Force pilots to operate a new fleet of UH-60 Black Hawks as they are delivered and no plan in place for teaching maintainers to keep the aircraft flying once they are fielded, according to the watchdog overseeing U.S. government spending in Afghanistan. A “key component” of modernizing the AAF is fielding a fleet of 159 Sikorsky [LMT] UH-60s — 119 for the air force and 40 for its Special Mission Wing — at a…

Congress

House Republicans’ Blueprint For Reconciliation 3.0 Includes $60 Billion For Defense

House Republicans on Wednesday unveiled a blueprint for a third reconciliation bill that includes $60 billion for defense, a figure slightly below the Trump administration’s request to cover Iran war […]

Congress

Senate Dems Block Consideration Of FY ‘27 NDAA Over Iran War Concerns

Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a vote to advance consideration of the chamber’s $1.14 trillion fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization (NDAA). The procedural vote was 46-50, failing to reach […]

Congress

Concerns Raised At SASC Hearing On Unobligated Reconciliation Funds And Lack Of Updates On Iran War Cost

Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) raised concerns at a hearing on Tuesday about the majority of funds in the $153 billion first reconciliation bill being unobligated thus […]

Unmanned Systems

CBO Says Upfront Costs To Protect Military Installations From Drones Between $1 Million And $74 Million

The initial costs to acquire and deploy counter-small unmanned aircraft system (C-sUAS) defenses at individual Defense Department installations are estimated at between $1.2 million and $73.6 million depending on the […]