The Army’s Rotary-Wing Aviation Fleet

CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE

A

CBO PA P E R

NOVEMBER 2007

Modernizing the Army's Rotary-Wing Aviation Fleet

Pub. No. 2898

Abbreviations Used in This Paper

AB3 AH-64A AH-64D ARH C3 CAAS CAB CCA CH-47 FCR FCS JHL JMR MTOGW OH-58C OH-58D RDT&E SLEP TDA TOE UH-1 UH-60 UH-72A

Longbow Apache Block III Apache (attack helicopter) Longbow Apache (attack helicopter) Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter Command, control, and communications Common Avionics Architecture System Combat aviation brigade Close combat attack Chinook (cargo helicopter) Fire control radar Future Combat Systems Joint Heavy Lift rotorcraft Joint Multi-Role rotorcraft Maximum takeoff gross weight Kiowa (observation helicopter) Kiowa Warrior (armed observation helicopter) Research, development, testing, and evaluation Service life extension program Table of distribution and allowances Table of organization and engineering Huey (utility helicopter) Blackhawk (utility helicopter) Lakota (light utility helicopter)

A

CBO

PAPER

Modernizing the Army's Rotary-Wing Aviation Fleet

November 2007

The Congress of the United States O Congressional Budget Office

Notes

All costs are presented in constant fiscal year 2007 dollars; all years are fiscal years. Numbers in the text and tables may not add up to totals because of rounding. The cover shows several helicopters in the Army's fleet. Clockwise from the top left: two UH-60 Blackhawks, UH-72A Lakota, AH-64 Apache, CH-47 Chinook, and OH-58D Kiowa Warrior. Source: army.mil.

Preface

The United States Army's rotary-wing aviation fleet numbers about 3,500 aircraft,

including utility, cargo, attack, and reconnaissance helicopters. Between now and 2030, the Army is planning to modernize the fleet to sustain and improve its capabilities, a task the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates will have an average cost of about $3.3 billion per year, substantially more than the $2.2 billion per year average the Army spent on such programs over the past 20 years.

This CBO paper was prepared at the request of Congressman Curt Weldon, then-Chairman, and Congressman Neil Abercrombie, current Chairman and past Ranking Member of what is now the Air and Land Forces Subcommittee of the House Committee on Armed Services. The paper analyzes the costs and the capabilities of the Army's planned rotary-wing aviation fleet and offers four alternative approaches to modernizing the fleet. In keeping with CBO's mandate to provide objective, impartial analysis, this paper makes no recommendations.

Kevin Eveker of CBO's National Security Division prepared the paper under the supervision of J. Michael Gilmore and with assistance from David Arthur. David Newman of CBO's Budget Analysis Division prepared the cost estimates under the supervision of Sarah Jennings. John Gordon of the RAND Corporation and personnel in the Department of the Army provided comments. (The assistance of external participants implies no responsibility for the final product, which rests solely with CBO.) Raymond Hall, Arlene Holen, Sarah Jennings, Frances Lussier, and Donald B. Marron (formerly of CBO) reviewed drafts of the study.

Kate Kelly edited the manuscript, with assistance from John Skeen. Cynthia Cleveland produced drafts of the paper. Maureen Costantino designed the cover and, with assistance from Allan Keaton, prepared the report for publication. Lenny Skutnik produced the printed copies, Linda Schimmel coordinated the print distribution, and Simone Thomas prepared the electronic version for CBO's Web site ().

November 2007

Peter R. Orszag Director

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download