US Approves Sale of 12 Bell UH-1Y to Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is looking to update its fleet of military helicopters with a deal worth $575 million. Approved by the U.S. State Department, the Czech Republic is set to receive 12 Bell Helicopter UH-1Ys.
The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Oct. 11 of the foreign military sale, which includes the UH-1Ys, as well as 25 of General Electric’s T-700 401c engines, 13 Honeywell GPS systems and 12 M240 machine guns.
“The Czech Republic intends to use these helicopters to modernize its armed forces and strengthen its homeland defense and deter regional threats,” the State Department said in a statement. “This will contribute to the Czech Republic’s military goal of updating its capabilities while further enhancing interoperability with the United States and other NATO allies.”

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

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

US Marines to buy 12 AH-1Z and 12 UH-1Y

The Naval Air Systems Command awarded Bell Helicopter a contract modification to purchase 12 AH-1Z attack helicopters and 12 UH-1Y utility helicopters on May 16.
According to the Pentagon, the modification was to “definitize” a previously awarded advanced acquisition contract.
The aircraft should be delivered by June 2017.
The U.S. Marine Corps hopes to eventually purchase a total of 189 AH-1Zs and 160 UH-1Ys—some of which are new, but many are rebuilt from older models. The Yankee and Zulu model aircraft have about 85 percent part commonality between the two airframes.
usni

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

Redesigned helicopter weapons UH-1Y mount brings increased fields of fire

An engineering team here recently redesigned and tested a UH-1Y helicopter weapons mount which will provide extended ground-firing capabilities to Marines in Afghanistan.
navair.navy

PMA-276 and defense industry partner welcome production of 100th H-1 Helicopter

Marking a key development for U.S. Marine Corps aviation, Bell Helicopter the manufacturer of the service’s H-1 Helicopter, delivered the 100th UH-1Y model to the U.S. government Jan. 16.

The aircraft was the 100th of 349 H-1 helicopters expected by the Marine Corps under the current program of record government contract.

The USMC Light/Attack Helicopters program (PMA-276) comprises both the UH-1Y utility and the AH-1Z attack aircraft.
navair.navy

Iraq, Bahrain interested in AH-1Z and UH-1Y

Industry sources say Iraq is interested to buy 24 AH-1Z helicopters for the Iraqi Army and 6-8 UH-1Y for its Navy. Bahrain is also looking at purchasing 14 AH-1Z attack helicopters.

reuters