The Air Force might accelerate the replacement of its Vietnam-era UH-1N Huey helicopters that protect ICBM fields by more than a year, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Frank Kendall told lawmakers Wednesday. Responding to a question from Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) during a Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing, Kendall said the service hasn’t made a final decision, but is looking into accelerating the switch to new helicopters by buying them for existing units before having an allocation of force in place first, as currently planned. In March, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James told the House Armed Services Committee the service was considering sole-source and competitive processes. Kendall said a final decision has not yet been made, but he expects it “very, very soon.”
President Donald Trump projected confidence Nov. 19 that a proposed sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia will sail through the Foreign Military Sales process, an early test of the Pentagon’s acquisition reforms. The deal is also likely to face scrutiny from ally Israel over how it could affect the balance…
