The Air Force will issue the UH-1N helicopter replacement program request for information and requirements documents next Friday, the service announced Wednesday. In May, the service said there will be a “full and open competition” to replace the fleet that protects ICBM fields even though Defense Secretary Ash Carter testified in April there was an urgent need for replacements. That same month lawmakers urged the Pentagon to detail its plan to protect the nuclear forces at Malmstrom AFB, Mont., Minot AFB, N.D., and F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., until the new helicopter comes online.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
