ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Army aviation units will focus on safety and training during a forcewide stand-down ordered after 12 soldiers were killed in two deadly helicopter crashes.

Nine soldiers were killed March 29 when their HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters crashed near Fort Campbell, Kentucky, during training. On April 27, two AH-64 Apache helicopters collided near Fort Wainwright, Alaska, killing three soldiers and seriously injuring a fourth. Both incidents are still under investigation. The Army said there is no indication of any pattern between the two incidents.

A 10-year study of military aircraft found most were unready for combat-related missions, including three types of Army helicopters.

The report by the Government Accountability Office, titled “Weapon System Sustainment: Aircraft Mission Capable Goals Were Generally Not Met and Sustainment Costs Varied by Aircraft,” details the examination of 49 types of fixed and rotary wing aircraft.

Findings indicate that only four aircraft met their annual mission readiness goals from fiscal 2011 through fiscal 2021—an overall decline over time.

In a long-anticipated demonstration, an unmanned Black Hawk helicopter flew for a prolonged period, navigated varied terrain and performed tasks that helicopter crews would perform on the battlefield.

As part of a Project Convergence 2022 Technology Gateway exercise, the helicopter with no humans aboard carried out a medical resupply mission and a combined mission that involved cargo delivery and casualty evacuation.

The Army is seeking “unprecedented” speed and range as it continues to develop two new rotary-wing aircraft for the future battlefield, senior leaders told Congress.

“Speed and range will give us an absolutely unprecedented capability, one that we have never experienced before, to operate from relative sanctuary and then project effects, as well as forces, at distances that our enemies will not be able to predict and not be able to counter,” said Lt. Gen. Erik Peterson, deputy Army chief of staff for resources and plans.

A top defense budget analyst warned Congress that the U.S. appears to be in an era where it is spending more to get less, an unsustainable shift caused by rising expenses for operating and maintaining equipment and the cost of taking care of people.  

Testifying Feb. 24 before the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, Todd Harrison of the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies said Army operating and maintenance costs have increased 117% in the last 20 years. 

Seven aviators and crew with the California Army National Guard were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for rescuing hundreds of people trapped by rapidly spreading wildfires over Labor Day weekend.

Flying UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters into areas of the Sierra National Forest that were engulfed in a firestorm of heat, smoke, wind and flames, the soldiers with the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade flew multiple missions in treacherous conditions between Sept. 5–8, lifting to safety 396 people and 27 animals.