The Army yesterday delivered to warfighters the first OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter upgraded under the Wartime Replacement Aircraft (WRA) Program at a roll-out ceremony at Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD), Texas.
CCAD Commander Col. Christopher Carlile handed over the aircraft’s log books to Lt. Col. Paul Cravey, squadron commander for the Air Cavalry Squadron from Fort Riley, Kan., during the ceremony in Hangar 44.
“I believe that this is really the path forward” for aviation in the future to reduce costs and bring together industry–Bell Helicopter Textron [TXT]–and the unique capabilities of CCAD, Carlile said in an roundtable with reporters about an hour after handing over the keys.
Lt. Col. Paul Cravey, Squadron Commander, 1-6 Air Cavalry Squadron, Fort Riley, Kan., said the new helicopter heads to Fort Riley this weekend.
The OH-58D is very important to brigade combat team commanders and soldiers, he said. “Without exception, it’s their aircraft of choice,” and there’s an insatiable desire for more of them.
The squadron is stretched.
Cravey said he had to qualify 39 air crew members in November while receiving tasking from Army Forces Command to work with soldiers at Ft. Bliss, Texas. He had 12 aircraft overall to do it with. Currently, the operational tempo averages 100 hours per airframe, though some clock up much higher hours.
“The numbers are beginning to build up now,” he said. But it’s not just his problem, it’s one every unit faces when they come back from deployment.
CW3 Aaron Posey, 1/6 maintenance pilot, said the WRA aircraft is “in the top five percent of the smoothest aircraft I ever flew,” stepping out of the helicopter less than two hours before speaking at the roundtable. Posey said he had “no complaints about the aircraft at all.”
Platoon leader 1st Lt. Jason Nichols said for him, the value of the aircraft is in the quality of aviation services it provides to commanders and troops on the ground.
The WRA Program is the Army’s initiative to replace OH-58D Kiowa Warriors, the primary air cavalry helicopter. The program is a joint effort with CCAD, the Armed Scout Helicopter (ASH) Project Office, the Aviation Field Maintenance Directorate (AFMD), and original producer Bell.
The helicopter turned over to Carvey was completed seven weeks ahead of schedule is is the first Kiowa Warrior produced as part of that joint venture and is the first one to increase Army fleet density in over a decade.
Lt. Col. Matthew Hannah, Kiowa Warrior product manager in PEO Aviation, said the Army is planning 49 total wartime replacement aircraft. Of those, 23 will be A models converted to D models.
The Army is short 42 aircraft of the total 368 fleet inventory. Sadly, due to a June 6 crash, there’s another helicopter lost, including the two crew. The Kiowa numbers first fell below 368 in 2004, and it took more than eight years to put the resources together and set up a product line. It is of concern to the service, since production stopped in 1999, and it’s crucial for warfighters to have the OH-58Ds.
The WRA program starts with the A model, which is sent to CCAD to receive structural repairs, on to Bell for conversion with a “fully stuffed” cabin, then back to CCAD for final assembly. About half the airframes are 40 years old, Hannah said.
Each WRA costs about $10 million. The 12-18 month process expects to produce one aircraft per month, but that depends on Congress. The final funding would come in fiscal year 2014 to complete all 49 aircraft.
The Army is aggressively pursuing ways to sustain the fleet and is looking to its industrial base and the entire aviation enterprise to support ongoing fleet upgrades that address obsolescence, improve reliability, increase capability and put OH-58Ds back in the fight.
While fleet attrition continues to be a serious problem with an average of six lost per year, the Kiowa Warrior has logged more than 800,000 combat hours between Iraq and Afghanistan where it battles sand, snow and high altitudes. These war birds are life-saving assets for troops on the ground. The Army expects to rely on the OH-58D as the primary air cavalry helicopter at least until 2025.