Philippines confirms its interest in getting P-3C, helicopters from Japan

The Department of National Defense on Thursday confirmed reports that it is planning to acquire a P-3C patrol aircraft from Japan to boost the military’s capabilities especially in monitoring the nation’s maritime boundaries.
Several P3-C Orion aircraft from Japan’s Self Defense Force are participating in ongoing military exercises in Philippines.
The aircraft, together with a Philippine Navy Islander spotter plane, conducted a joint patrol exercise near the Recto (Reed) Bank off the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea).
Aside from the Orion aircraft, Galvez said the Philippines is also eyeing to acquire helicopters from Japan.
manilatimes

Royal New Zealand Air Force To Retire UH-1H Iruquois next July

The Royal New Zealand Air Force’s fleet of Iroquois helicopters has provided almost 50 years of service to New Zealand and has been a stalwart of Defence Force operations since its purchase. The Iroquois is scheduled to cease flying operations with the Air Force on 01 July 2015. Ahead of this withdrawal from service, No.3 Squadron from Ohakea who fly the Iroquois are making various stops around New Zealand in May.
The Iroquois is being replaced by the NH90 helicopter.
The RNZAF UH-1H Iroquois were first brought into service in 1966, two of the aircraft have been donated to the air force Museum, while an airframe will be donated to the Waiouru Army Museum for public display. Another airframe will be loaned to the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology for training technicians. Ten airframes would be sold by tender for commercial use after they had cleared US State Department approvals as ex-US military technology.
defense-studies

20 Percent of all US Marines Aircraft Are Grounded, F/A-18 Hornets The Most Affected

Nearly one of every five of the Corps' aircraft are unable to fly, making it difficult for Marines to train for deployments.
The shortfall spans across aircraft in the fleet, and it is largely caused by a backlog of aircraft stuck in depots for extensive work and overhauls. The problems date back to the 2013 defense budget cuts.
The problem is most prevalent with F/A-18 Hornets, but also impacts CH-53E, AV-8B Harriers, MV-22B Ospreys, and H-1 Hueys.
The strike-fighter shortfall could reach as high as 134 aircraft. The gap is caused by a service life extension program that has caused a backlog of Hornets in short-staffed maintenance depots.
Legacy Hornets were brought into depots to extend their service life from 6,000 flight hours to as long as 10,000 in order to keep them operational until the F-35B entered the fleet. The Hornets were only designed to last to 6,000 hours, and when engineers opened up the airframe to extend their service life, they found unexpected levels of corrosion that required extensive work.
Sequestration also made it tough to buy spare parts for aircraft, so even aircraft that are in the fleet sometimes can't fly.
marinecorpstimes

Kazakhstan to acquire Su-30SM fighters

Kazakhstan is to acquire the Sukhoi Su-30SM 'Flanker' as it looks to recapitalise its Soviet-era fighter force.
The disclosure was made by the Commander in Chief of the Kazakhstan Air Defence Forces , during a visit to the Irkutsk Aviation Plant where the Su-30SM is built.
The government announcement did not disclose aircraft numbers or delivery timelines.
The Su-30SM has been developed from the Indian Su-30MKI and is intended by the Russian Air Force as a stop-gap until the Su-35 and Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA enter service later in the decade. The two-seat Su-30SM features an improved radar, communications, and ejector-seat system. In addition, the aircraft's weaponry configuration has been adjusted to Russian specifications.
Kazakhstan currently fields MiG-27, Su-25, MiG-31, Su-27, and MiG-29, all inherited from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
Kazakhstan has recently been procuring Western aircraft for the first time in the guise of the Airbus C295 transport aircraft, as well as EC145 and Bell UH-1 Huey II helicopters (and has been touted as a potential customer of the Airbus A400M transport aircraft).
janes

USAF wants to replace UH-1N Hueys with Black Hawks

UH-1N Hueys, used to protect nuclear missile sites, would be replaced with upgraded Army Black Hawks under the fiscal 2016 budget plan
The service's budget request states that the Air Force would purchase Army UH-60A Black Hawks and upgrades them to the UH-60L through existing government contracts. The upgrades include more powerful engines and an automatic flight control system.
gannett-cdn

Vietnam Grounds Decades-Old Huey Choppers After Fatal Crash

Vietnam's military announced Friday it has temporarily grounded Vietnam War-era U.S.-built helicopters after a crash killed four personnel.
The UH-1 "Huey" chopper crashed in farmland on Wednesday soon after taking off from Ho Chi Minh City on a training flight.
Army Deputy Chief of Staff said all UH-1 helicopters would be grounded for maintenance checks. He said an investigation discovered that crew members had found a problem with the control system of the doomed aircraft and had tried unsuccessfully to fix it.
The chopper, one of some 50 Hueys originally belonging to American forces but seized by the victorious communists when the war ended in 1975, was overhauled in the United States in 2012. He said had been decommissioned for failing to meet safety standards, but declined to say how many are still in service.
abcnews

Taiwan receives four out of 60 ordered Black Hawks from US

Taiwan (Republic of China) receives four out of sixty ordered UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from United States. Sixty Black Hawk choppers from US cost approximately USD3.1 billion. This Foreign Military Sale was approved by US government in 2010.
Delivery of all medium-lift utility helicopters is expected to be completed in ten batches through 2019.
Taiwan Army will be replacing its aged UH-1H Huey utility helicopters with the said choppers.
angmalaya

Lebanon to acquire 18 UH-1H Huey

Lebanon has requested to US the sale of 18 Huey II helicopters, spare and repair parts, maintenance, support equipment, publications and technical documentation.
The State Department has made the determination of approving the Foreign Military Sale.

Final Flight of US Marines UB-1N Huey

After more than 40 years of service, the Marine Corps retired the aging UH-1N Huey helicopter during a “sundown ceremony” Aug. 28, 2014, aboard Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, New Orleans.
marforres.marines

US Marine Corps to Retire UH-1N Helicopters in September; HH-1Ns in 2015

The Marine Corps will say goodbye to a long-serving utility helicopter type in September as it retires its last UN-1N Iroquois, almost universally known as the “Huey,” after 43 years of service. The UH-1N is being replaced by the UH-1Y Venom, a highly upgraded version of the UH-1N.
The last UH-1Ns, built by Bell Helicopter, are operated by Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 773 (HMLA-773). HMLA-773 took the UH-1N on its last deployment, in which two UH-1Ns sailed on a Royal Netherlands Navy ship in 2013 for an African Partnership Station deployment.
HMLA-773 already has begun transition to the UH-1Y. The squadron also operates the AH-1W Super Cobra gunship version.
Deliveries of the UH-1N to the Marine began in 1971. The Navy and Marine Corps procured 205 UH-1Ns, plus six VH-1N executive transports for Marine Helicopter Squadron One, the unit that provides transportation for the president of the United States. Ten UH-1Ns were remanufactured to UH-1Ys, after which the Corps decided to procure new UH-1Ys from Bell.
The Corps will continue to fly five unarmed HH-1N versions from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., until their retirement in 2015. These aircraft are the only HH-1Ns remaining in Marine Corps service from 44 converted from 38 UH-1Ns and the six VH-1Ns. The HH-1Ns also will be replaced by UH-1Ys.
seapowermagazine

Iraq Seeks Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters

The US DSCA announces an official export request from Iraq for a 5-year continuation of contractor logistics support for its Bell 407 (T-407 and IA-407), OH-58, and Huey II helicopters. This will include maintenance support, personnel training and training equipment.
The principal contractor will be Bell Helicopter.
A very similar announcement with an identical contract number was issued on Dec 18/13, which referenced DSCA Foreign Military Sales case IQ-B-UDZ, and had only half of the funds committed. This looks like an amendment.
defenseindustrydaily

Philippines Air Force to get first 4 Huey helicopters of 21

Four of 21 UH-1 helicopters acquired by the Philippines military from North American suppliers arrived last Sunday.  Three more Huey helicopters might be delivered next month.
abs-cbnnews

US Marines final UH-1N flight

The Corps' fleet of UH-1N Huey helicopters is being replaced with the newer UH-1Y model, the first of the new upgraded, four-bladed variants is scheduled to be delivered to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 773 this summer.
The UH-1Y will feature upgraded glass cockpit avionics, and increased performance in range, speed and payload.
robins.af.mil

USAF Planning Decade-Long Huey Extension

The US Air Force is close to finalizing a plan to extend the life of the UH-1N Huey helicopter for the next decadTe.
Exists a master plan that will provide a framework for how to sustain and modernize this aircraft for the next six to ten years.
The plan will lay what improvements can be made to reduce long-running capability gaps with the Huey, among the oldest platforms in the service. Unlike modern aircraft, the Huey is analog, lacking the digital displays that are commonplace on current platforms.
defensenews

US firm offering 21 Hueys for P1.2B to Philippines

A California-based firm is offering the government 21 UH-1 or Huey helicopters for P1.2646 billion for use in the May elections.
The Air Force made the request for additional Hueys in 2011.
The offer was accepted because the amount is lower than the allotted P1.2649 billion.
Rice Aircraft Services Inc. was the sole bidder for the helicopters.
It was declared an eligible bidder after submitting all the necessary documentary requirements to the Bids and Awards Committee.
Defense Undersecretary Fernando Manalo told The STAR the helicopters will be delivered by March 31, weeks before the elections.

philstar

Philippine Air Force Opens Bid for 21 Hueys

The Department of National Defense (DND) is planning to spend P1.26 billion to purchase 21 combat helicopters to give a much-needed boost to the Philippine Air Force.
In a notice posted on the DND website on Monday, October 29, the department said it intends to acquire the refurbished Bell UH-1 ("Huey") helicopters along with the corresponding logistics support package

defense-studies

FILIPINAS PARALIZA FLOTA DE HELICÓPTEROS UH-1H "HUEY"/ PHILIPPINE AIR FORCE GROUNDS "HUEY" FLEET

La Fuerza Aérea de Filipinas (PAF), ha paralizado los vuelos de toda su flota de helicópteros UH-1H “Huey”, tras el incidente sufrido recientemente por uno de ellos, que se incendió tras aterrizar de emergencia. La situación permanecerá hasta que se determinen las causas del incendio.
El UH-1H es el caballo de batalla de la PAF y se utiliza para transporte de tropas, rescate, y misiones de abastecimiento. Actualmente la PAF dispone de unos 40 Huey.
La PAF recibirá en el primer cuarto de 2011 ocho nuevos helicópteros de la compañia polaca PZL, para reemplazar a los UH-1H mas antiguos.
(leer más)
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The entire fleet of Philippine Air Force (PAF) UH-1H “Huey” helicopters has been grounded following the incident last Friday wherein one of their choppers was engulfed in flames after making an emergency landing, until investigators determine the cause of the fire.
The UH-1H helicopter is the PAF’s workhorse used in combat, troop transport, rescue, and re-supply missions. With the latest incident, the PAF is now left with just about 40 Huey helicopters.
Meanwhile, the PAF is anticipating the delivery of eight brand-new utility helicopters from Poland to replace their aging fleet of UH-1H’s.
According to Okol, they expect the delivery of the combat utility helicopters from PZL Swienik Company of Poland by the first quarter of 2011.
(read more)