Fleet pilots at NAS Pax River began getting their first crack at the Corps’ newest attack and utility helicopters, the AH-1Z SuperCobra and the UH-1Y Huey, in the first operational assessment for the H-1 Upgrades Program. The assessmentwill be comprised of five sorties for each aircraft and will represent tactical missions to be flown by the aircraft once they reach the Fleet, according to Maj. Harry Hewson, PMA-276 deputy program manager for Operations.

Conducting the operational assessment will be 25 enlisted Marines and four officers, all of whom are assigned to the H-1 Operational Test Team and fall under the operational control of VX-9 at China Lake, Calif. Developmental testing will continue around the OT flights, which is why three months have been scheduled to complete the 10 sorties, according to Hewson.

The assessment starts as U.S.-built UH-1 Hueys have achieved a total of more than 22.2 million flight hours since the first HU-1 was delivered in 1958, according to Hank Perry, Bell Helicopter-Textron’s manager of USMC Requirements. The AH-1 Cobra/SuperCobra, in its various iterations, has achieved more than 4.5 million flight hours since the first one, the AH-1G, was delivered in 1967.

“The actual purpose of this assessment is to determine if these aircraft are potentially operationally effective,” Hewson explained. “But this is not a full-blown operational evaluation, it’s merely an initial look by Fleet pilots. These aircraft are still in the developmental phase and we want the operational test team guys to tell us if we’re on the right track. We’re confident they’ll tell us we are.”

Based in Pax River, the aircraft will fly missions that could take them to Quantico, Va., New River, N.C., and the Aberdeen (Md.) Proving Ground. The missions will not include live fire or any night flying, Hewson added.

“This is an important milestone for the program,” stated Col. Doug Isleib, PMA-276 program manager. “This is the first time the fleet guys will get an operational look at these aircraft. Besides getting an indication of whether or not we’re potentially operationally effective, we need to get a fresh and different perspective from the Fleet.”

Aside from that fresh perspective, the operational assessment marks an important milestone for the new helicopters, according to Isleib. “This is a key element in getting to our first Defense Acquisition Board, which, in turn, will get these aircraft into production and out to the Fleet where they’re needed,” he added.

The actual flights will take place following simulator training for the operational test pilots at the Bell plant in Texas. [ANN Thanks John C. Milliman, PMA-276 PAO]

FMI: www.navair.mil