MH-139A tests completed at Duke

The Air Force completed its first combined test flight of the MH-139A Grey Wolf with manufacturer Boeing on Feb. 11 at Eglin AFB, Fla., the service said in a Feb. 19 release. Testing at Eglin was the first time AF pilots got to vet the new helicopter, which will replace the UH-1N Huey, as a nuclear missile field patrol and VIP transport aircraft. The AF’s Global Strike Command is buying the choppers. A test detachment was stood up at Eglin’s nearby Duke Field in December, and that work will last into mid-2022. The AF plans to buy up to 84 operational and test aircraft at a cost of $2.4B, starting with eight deployable helicopters in FY 2021. The service wants to purchase eight per year until 2023, then ramp up to 15 a year starting in 2024. At Duke Field, five pilots, six special mission aviators, and four helicopters will go through the ringer for the early phase before moving to Malmstrom AFB, Mont., for operational testing in 2021, according to Lt. Col. Mary Clark, commander of Detachment 7 at Eglin, which is overseeing developmental tests along with the base’s 413th Flight Test Squadron. The crews assigned to Eglin come from all the areas and mission sets that the UH-1N currently serves. (Source: AF Magazine 02/19/20)