The US Air Force has received the initial MH-139A Grey Wolf production aircraft from Boeing. This helicopter is part of a Low-Rate Initial Production procurement for 13 helicopters in 2023 and will be located at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana.
According to Azeem Khan, the executive director and program manager of the MH-139, this aircraft will directly contribute to the US Air Force’s ongoing modernization efforts.
The future of national security is contingent upon the delivery of this asset to the MH-139A fleet, as the Grey Wolf will be a critical component of the US nuclear triad for decades to come. The US Air Force gave Boeing an order for additional seven MH-139As in 2024. Boeing currently has 26 aircraft on contract, with six Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation aircraft having been delivered.
The MH-139A is capable of operating multiple mission sets due to its 50% increase in speed and range and 5,000 pound-lb increase in maximum gross weight in comparison to its predecessor. The aircraft enhances the US Air Force’s capability and flexibility by combining lower operating costs, increased reliability, and enhanced maintainability.
MH-139A Grey Wolf
The US Air Force began a competitive effort to replace the Bell UH-1N helicopters in December 2016. In addition to Boeing and Italy’s Leonardo offering, Sikorsky (a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin) entered the tender, proposing a derivative of the HH-60U variant of their UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. Additionally, Sierra Nevada Corporation proposed supplying the Air Force with restored and modified UH-60A Black Hawk helicopters to the UH-60L level, which had been removed from the US Army aviation service.
In September 2018, the US Air Force selected the Boeing-proposed multi-purpose helicopter. The MH-139 was chosen primarily because of Boeing’s lower price proposal, which offers savings of more than $1 billion over other candidates (Sikorsky had asked $4.1 billion for the HH-60U helicopters). The MH-139A is intended to save significantly on life cycle maintenance expenses because it is effectively a version of an extensively used commercial helicopter instead of solely military UH-60 family helicopters. The US Air Force had planned to acquire HH-60U helicopters in a non-competitive manner, but due to pressure from the US Congress and oversight agencies, they were compelled to issue a tender with a focus on cost savings for this program.
On December 19, 2019, at Duke Field Air Force Base (Florida), the Air Force Global Strike Command held a ceremony to officially designate the MH-139A Grey Wolf, the military multi-purpose variant of the Leonardo (Agusta Westland) AW139 helicopter supplied to the Air Force by Boeing.
The ceremony was timed with the delivery of the first production test MH-139A helicopter to the 413th Test Squadron based at Duke Field, where these helicopters are to undergo military testing. In November 2023, Boeing delivered the sixth MH-139 helicopter, the final test aircraft of the type. This delivery paved the way for the first production aircraft in mid-2024.
The US Air Force intends to acquire 84 Boeing MH-139A helicopters, with a $2.4 billion acquisition effort that includes technical assistance and personnel training. Due to budgetary constraints, this number has been slashed to 42 helicopters. The US Air Force requires that each helicopter have a flight time of at least 480 hours per year and a service life of at least 30 years.
Leonardo Helicopters’ manufacturing plant in Philadelphia will provide the helicopters. This plant houses the American assembly line for the AW139 helicopters, which are subsequently transformed into the MH-139A type at Boeing’s factory at Ridley Park, on the southern outskirts of Philadelphia (the former Boeing Vertol headquarters).
As mentioned, the US Air Force now deploys Bell UH-1N Huey helicopters (the military variant of the Bell 212 helicopter) to protect land-based strategic missile systems. These helicopters first entered service in 1970 and are now more than 40 years old. In addition to this primary role, the UH-1N helicopters are utilized for everyday VIP transportation and are responsible for assuring the evacuation of members of Congress and other significant government officials from Washington, DC, in the event of an emergency.
According to reports, the majority of the MH-139A helicopters will be stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, Warren Air Force Base in Montana, Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, and Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. They will also be stationed in Yokosuka, Japan, and will receive flight crew training at Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington and Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.