Fri, Mar 12, 2010
Work Begins This Month On Kiowa Warrior SEP Program
Bell Helicopter has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Army to
modify the final 30 OH-58D aircraft under the Kiowa Warrior Safety
Enhancement Program (SEP), the company announced Tuesday.
These 30 aircraft will form Lot 13 of the Kiowa Warrior SEP
program. Work on the aircraft will begin in March 2010. Completed
aircraft are scheduled to be delivered back to the Army at a rate
of two per month beginning in July 2010.
Bell is currently modifying aircraft in Lot 12, and is on track
to complete all work on that lot of 27 aircraft in May 2010. "We've
been able to deliver every aircraft in Lot 12 on or ahead of the
contract schedule," said Amy Tedford, Director of Military Fielded
Systems at Bell Helicopter. "Every Bell employee on the SEP line
understands the great value that the OH-58D provides to America's
warfighters, and we all take great pride in supporting the Kiowa
Warrior and its critical role in protecting our troops in the
combat zone."
The Kiowa Warriors are being upgraded with an improved engine,
improved computer control system and related new wiring harnesses.
These improvements are part of a series of safety and performance
modifications the Army implemented to keep the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior
helicopter safe and mission effective throughout its lifespan. Once
the aircraft in Lot 13 have been modified, the OH-58D Safety
Enhancement Program will be complete and a total of 371 Kiowa
Warriors will have been upgraded under the program.
File Photo
Work on Lot 13 aircraft will be accomplished at Bell
Helicopter's Plant 1 facility in Fort Worth, Texas, and is
scheduled to be completed by the end of 2011.
The US Army fleet of Kiowa helicopters has accumulated more than
550,000 combat flight hours and nearly 2 million total flight
hours. Despite such high usage rates, daily combat missions and a
harsh operating environment, the OH-58D continues to maintain the
highest OPTEMPO and highest readiness rates of any Army aircraft in
theater.
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