S-97 Raider Helicopter Unveiled

Sikorsky unveiled its first S-97 Raider prototype Thursday, kicking off the test flight phase of the experimental helicopter program.
The Raider is Sikorsky’s planned entry to replace the US Army’s OH-58D Kiowa Warrior fleet.
The Raider prototype is based on the X-2 technology that Sikorsky developed in the late 2000s, with some key differences. Where the X-2 demonstrator was a one-person, 5,000-pound platform, the Raider is roughly 11,000 pounds with room for six troops for combat assault missions; if those troops aren’t needed, that space can be used to hold extra equipment or ammunition.
Sikorsky has expressed confidence it will go hand in hand with unmatched speed. The company has claimed speeds of 220 knots (253 mph), which would be significantly faster than conventional military rotorcraft.
defensenews

US Army begins grounding Kiowas, seeks buyers

The US Army has started grounding some of its Bell Helicopter OH-58 Kiowa Warriors and is now seeking buyers for the aircraft, including fASreign customers.
According Army's 2015 budget proposal, the service will divest its entire fleet of Kiowa Warriors and related TH-67 Creek trainers. 26 OH-58Ds will be placed in non-flyable storage in fiscal year 2014. The service has 335 D variants and 182 TH-67s.
In addition to possible foreign sales, the army is looking into whether other US military branches or government agencies might be interested in acquiring the aircraft, says the army's armed scout helicopter project director Col James Kennedy.
The US Navy, which hopes to replace its fleet of Bell TH-57 trainers in the next five to 10 years, says it is too early to comment on whether it might consider purchasing the army's TH-67s.
flightglobal

US Army Plans To Scrap Kiowa Helo Fleet

US Army leaders are considering scrapping its entire fleet of Bell Helicopter OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopters, while pulling the National Guard’s Boeing AH-64 Apaches into the active-duty force to fill the scout helicopter role as the Army seeks to fulfill its longer-term requirement of a newly developed armed aerial scout.
The plan also calls for giving active Black Hawk helicopters to the Guard, while taking half of the Guard’s Lakota fleet, using them as active-duty trainers and scrapping its Jet Rangers.
While a final decision has yet to be made, the industry sources had the impression that the deal was all but done.
The deal would be done in the interest of cutting costs and reducing the number of different helicopter types in the Army, but questions remain about the affordability of using the Apache to fill the scout role.
Once the Army divests itself of its 338 active-duty and 30 National Guard Kiowas and pulls Apaches from the National Guard, the service will then provide the Guard with Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters in order to give the Guard more capability as it conducts its homeland defense and disaster response missions.
The Army has 570 Apaches, while the Guard has 192 and the Army Reserve has 48.
The goal is to have a total of 690 AH-64E Apaches in the Army.
The Guard is also expected to gain 111 Black Hawks from the active duty, while the reserve will receive 48, and the end-state calls for 1,033 Black Hawk helicopters in the active Army, 960 in the Guard and 142 in the reserve.
Part of the plan also entails retiring the active-duty Bell TH-67 Jet Ranger training helicopters, and moving about 100 EADS UH-72 Lakotas from the active Army and 104 of the Guard’s 212 Lakotas for this purpose.
Although the Kiowa program kicked off in 1969, the Kiowa Warriors being used today were built from 1985 onward. The entire fleet has been completely reset and remachined over the past decade, with the upgrade program ending in 2011.
defensenews

US Army OH-58F makes first flight

The US Army's OH-58F Kiowa Warrior made its first flight on 26 April at the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. The helicopter, which was designed and built by the army itself, will make a formal debut on 30 April.
In the future, the aircraft is expected to receive dual-redundant digital engine controls and digital capability for the Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missile.
flightglobal

Bell trials upgraded Kiowa Warrior prototypes

Bell Helicopter has tested two upgraded versions of its OH-58F armed reconnaissance helicopter in order to present the US Army with a path forward, should the service decide to further modernise its venerable Kiowa Warrior fleet.
One demonstrator is powered by a Honeywell-built turboshaft, the other features a Rolls-Royce powerplant, says Bell president and chief executive officer John Garrison.

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US Army completes first OH-58F test aircraft

The US Army has finished building the first Bell OH-58F Kiowa Warrior helicopter at its prototype integration facility. The aircraft will now start to be instrumented for its first test flight, which is expected in April.

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EADS urges US Army to buy new scout helicopter

EADS North America is urging the US Army to buy a new armed reconnaissance helicopter to replace its aging fleet of Bell OH-58 Kiowa Warriors. The service is expected to make a decision by year end as to whether it will buy a new helicopter or soldier on with what it has.

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