Airbus challenges Navy helo award

Airbus Helicopters has challenged the Navy’s contract award decision to Italian helicopter manufacturer Leonardo to replace its aging helicopter training fleet at NAS Whiting Field, Fla., with the TH-119 helicopter. The helicopters would be used to train Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard pilots, and would replace the current fleet of TH-57s, which have been in service for 35 years. Leonardo would be paid $176M for 130 helicopters. In their challenge, Airbus said certain technical aspects of their proposed H135 design were not accurately assessed. The Navy has 30 days to respond to the complaint. (Source: WCOA 02/17/20) Airbus is a French-based company with a North American facility that builds training helicopters for the Army at Columbus, Miss.