Air Force Materiel Command will host an industry day later this month to solicit information on potential solutions for replacing Air Force Global Strike Command’s fleet of aging UH-1N Huey helicopters, according to a government contracting notice released Aug. 10. The event, planned for Aug. 26-27 at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, will provide contractors information on a forthcoming capabilities request for information that will detail requirements for the new helicopter. The Air Force wants to buy up 72 new helicopters, which are used by security forces at AFGSC bases to respond to incidents, protect facilities, and patrol the vast Minuteman III missile fields at the command’s bases, among other tasks. The new helicopter will be an off-the-shelf, in-production aircraft, according to the industry day announcement posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website. Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson, the former commander of AFGSC, said this past January in a roundtable discussion with reporters that the service is leaning toward purchasing a modified version of UH-60 Black Hawks to replace the Hueys. Air Force spokesman Ed Gulick told Air Force Magazine the service wants to award a contract in 2017.
After years of serving as the bill-payer for other Pentagon priorities, munitions stockpiles are poised to get a major boost from the $150 billion reconciliation package unveiled by lawmakers in Congress this week, along with the defense industrial base to...