Goodbye, Iroquois: Hello, Gray Wolf

Leonardo S.p.A., the Italian multinational aerospace, defense, and security company; and Boeing, the world’s preeminent commercial aircraft concern and second-largest defense contractor, have delivered the first four MH-139A Grey Wolf test helicopters to the U.S. Air Force. The medium-sized, multi-mission, twin-engine MH-139A derives of AgustaWestland’s AW139 platform, and is slated to replace the USAF’s aging fleet of Bell UH-1N Twin Huey utility helicopters.

The delivery follows the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) issuance of the last supplemental type certificate necessary to complete U.S. Department of Defense Form 250 and formally commence aircraft acceptance.

Boeing—which was awarded a $2.4-billion contract in 2018 for up to eighty MH-139A helicopters, training systems, and associated support equipment—and the Air Force will presently commence additional developmental and initial operational testing of the new Gray Wolf helicopters.

The MH-139A is built at Leonardo’s FAA-certified Part 21 facility in northeast Philadelphia. Boeing, conversely, is tasked with procuring and installing the Gray Wolf’s military bits and bobs, and seeing to its post-delivery support.

Boeing vice president Mark Cherry states: “The Grey Wolf is a modern, versatile aircraft offering greater range, speed and endurance than the UH-1N Huey it replaces. I am proud of our team who, along with our partner Leonardo, helped us to achieve this milestone—a tremendous first-step in a long line of Grey Wolf deliveries.”

Leonardo Helicopters U.S. CEO Clyde Woltman adds: “We are thrilled that the first four MH-139As have been accepted by the U.S. Air Force. This aircraft is well-positioned to become an important asset in the defense and security of the United States.  I especially want to thank the combined program teams at Leonardo and Boeing whose tireless work and ingenuity made this possible.”

Notwithstanding similarities in appearance and DNA, the MH-139A and its AW139 forebear are very different machines. By way of comparison, the Gray Wolf cruises fifty-percent faster, flies fifty-percent farther, has a thirty-percent larger cabin, and can lift 5,000-pounds more than the legacy AW139.

The Gray Wolf’s get-up-and-go is managed via an open-architecture glass-cockpit comprising redundant primary flight and engine displays, dual FMS systems, weather radar, enhanced ground proximity warning, radar altimeter, engine IR signature reduction, and military UHF/satcoms.

In addition to outstanding aircraft performance and top-shelf flight-deck technology, Gray Wolf crews are afforded defensive appointments the likes of chaff/flares and a missile warning system, cockpit and cabin ballistic protection, and crashworthy, self-sealing fuel tanks. Aircrews confronted with enemy combatants may improve the characters of such by way of optional, cabin-mounted 7.62 NATO M240 machine guns.

The USAF plans to procure up to 84 MH-139As through 2027, basing thirty at Andrews; 11 each at F. E. Warren, Kirtland, Malmstrom, Minot; and four each at Fairchild and Yokota, Two specimens will be retained for integration work at Eglin Air Force Base. As the commercial AW139 is a mature system, developmental testing of the MH-139A is apt to proceed with alacrity.

FMI: www.af.mil