CR may delay Navy helo trainer

WASHINGTON – With the start of FY 2020 approaching next week, Congress will head into its start under another potential Continuing Resolution through Nov. 21. The House passed a CR on Sept. 19 that would fund the government through Nov. 21. The Senate has attempted to advance appropriations through four appropriations bills, but those efforts are stalled. The Defense Air Department has identified three modernization programs that will suffer under restrictions of a CR. On Sept. 20, DoD stated that a CR would “disrupt major exercises and training events, affect readiness and maintenance, curtail hiring and recruitment actions, and adversely impact contracting negotiations.” They specifically called out three modernization priorities that would be hurt, including the Advanced Navy helicopter training system. A contract to buy 32 trainers (24 Navy; 8 Marines) is scheduled to be awarded in November, but that contract, and getting the program started, would face delays. For the Navy, its next rotary-wing training helicopters contract would replace the aging TH-57 Sea Ranger fleet, which is used for initial training purposes at NAS Whiting Field, Fla. In April 2018, three contractors - Airbus, Bell and Leonardo - all brought examples of potential training helicopters to the Navy’s biggest trade show. Airbus is keeping all its options on the table. “We have a broad product range,” according to John Roth, senior director of business development for Airbus Helicopters Inc. of Columbus, Miss. (Source: Defense News 09/20/19) One of AHI’s recommendations could be the H135 light, twin-engine helicopter; another is the EC-145 helicopter that the Army now uses for its trainer, replacing its TH-67s with LUH-72A Lakota light utility helicopters already in the service’s inventory in 2014. The other two projects announced for potential delays are the long-range hypersonic weapon and the B-52 GPS interface unit replacement. https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2019/09/20/these-three-weapon-systems-will-face-delays-under-a-short-cr/ UPDATE: AHI is pointing to the twin engine H135 helicopter's 5.5M hours of instrument flight rules (IFR) experience since 2000 as a key differentiator in the Navy Advanced Helicopter Training System (AHTS) TH-73, formerly known as TH-XX, competition to replace the service's fleet of TH-57 trainers based at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Fla.