Scout helicopter competitors to Army: it's time for a Flyoff.

• Author: Parsons, Dan
• Position: Army Aviation

Helicopter manufacturers have flexed their muscles and weighed in for a chance to replace the Army's aging scout helicopter fleet.

More than a year after Army officials announced they would conduct "market research" on commercially available aircraft, the companies that build them are ready to rumble.

The Army recently concluded voluntary flight demonstrations of five companies' aircraft designs that could replace its aging and war-weary Kiowa Warrior. Aircraft manufacturers were thrilled to display their offerings, but after years of delays and half-measures, executives are calling on the Army to make a decision.

"It's time for a competition," David Haines, vice president for rotorcraft programs at EADS North America, told reporters. "There are alternatives out there today that would allow the Army to have a competition. Keeping the Kiowa Warrior around for another 20 years isn't the right solution, nor is it a satisfactory option for the war fighter. So run a competition, get it out there and let's start building this thing."

The Army is expected eventually to buy about 500 aircraft for between $13 million and $15 million per copy if it chooses not to stick with the OH-58 Kiowa, the earliest version of which was introduced during the Vietnam War. Therefore the program represents a potential multibillion-dollar windfall for whichever company scores a contract. Executives whose offerings must compete to supply the Army's next Armed Aerial Scout are eager to do more than trumpet their own accomplishments.

David Koopersmith, The Boeing Co.'s vice president of attack helicopter programs, said as much when briefing reporters on its AAS offering at the Association of the United States Army's annual convention in October. Boeing took Army pilots on a test drive of its AH-6i, a scout version of its Little Bird light attack helicopter, in October.

While Boeing executives were tighter lipped than other competitors regarding the attributes and performance of its contender, they let slip that it flew 10 hours of day and night demonstrations at the company's Mesa, Ariz., airstrip. That location sits at 1,370 feet above sea level, but company officials would not say whether the aircraft flew at the 6,000-foot altitude that is widely believed to be an Army requirement.

"We are very excited about the Army continuing to go through the voluntary flight demonstrations as we ... prepare for what we hope will be an outcome of a competition," Koopersmith said...