On Monday, August 5, 2024, the American company Boeing announced the handover of the first production model of the MH-139A Grey Wolf medium special-purpose helicopter to the U.S. Air Force (USAF). The rotorcraft was developed in collaboration with Leonardo as a successor to the Bell UH-1N Twin Huey.
Photo: Boeing
“This aircraft will directly support ongoing U.S. Air Force modernization efforts,” said Azeem Khan, MH-139 executive director and program manager. “Delivering this asset for the MH-139A fleet is critical to the future of national security as the Grey Wolf will play a crucial role in the U.S. nuclear triad for decades to come.”
On November 20, 2023, Boeing announced that in the previous month, it had delivered the last two of six pre-production MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopters to the USAF. One of them was delivered on March 6 of this year to Malmstrom Air Force Base near Great Falls, Montana.
Now, the second helicopter has been delivered to Malmstrom, but this time it comes from the low-rate initial production (LRIP) phase, approved on March 3, 2023. The assembly of the first of these began in early June of last year, and this year’s deliveries are expected to include a total of 13 units. This year, the Department of Defense ordered an additional 7 production units. In total, the USAF plans to purchase 84 of these helicopters, which will replace the 64 UH-1N Twin Huey helicopters that have been in service since the 1970s.
All deliveries are scheduled to be completed by 2028, with Boeing and Leonardo’s production facilities, supported by European subcontractors (including WSK PZL-Świdnik), expected to reach a maximum production capacity of 20-30 units per year during full-rate production (FRP).
One of the pre-production units / Photo: Jakub Link-Lenczowski, MILMAG
Boeing first offered this model in cooperation with Italy’s Leonardo, which was developed based on the AgustaWestland AW139M (of which more than 1,130 units have been produced), on March 2, 2017, with the final offer submitted on July 17, 2018 (Lockheed Martin and Airbus Helicopters also expressed interest in participating in the tender).
Final assembly takes place at Boeing’s facility in Ridley Park and Leonardo Helicopters US in Philadelphia. The Italian company is part of the contract-winning consortium. It is worth noting that some fuselage components are manufactured at Leonardo’s WSK PZL-Świdnik plant in Poland. Leonardo is responsible for the airframe production, while Boeing handles the adaptation to USAF operational requirements. On February 26 of this year, Leonardo Helicopters announced that the global fleet of AW139 helicopters had surpassed a total of 4 million flight hours.
The MH-139A has been equipped with avionics tailored to the customer’s requirements, specialized communication systems, an electro-optical targeting system, countermeasure flare dispensers, multifunctional color touchscreens, a winch, weapon mounts, and a 4-axis autopilot with automatic hover capability. The MH-139A is capable of transporting 9 troops in an armored cabin over a distance of 420 km without the need for refueling.
The helicopters will be assigned to the 37th, 40th, and 54th Helicopter Squadrons of the 20th Air Force under the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), the 1st Helicopter Squadron for VIPs in the District of Columbia, and the 459th Airlift Squadron under the Air Force Pacific Training Command at Yokota Air Base in Japan. They will provide protection for LGM-30G Minuteman III strategic missile silos, transport VIPs, and support search and rescue operations in the states of Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wyoming.
The first production #MH139 helicopter has joined the @USAirForce fleet!
This Grey Wolf will be based at @MalmstromAFB to safeguard ICBMs, transport personnel, and aid search and rescue efforts. The MH-139 enhances capability and cuts sustainment costs compared to its… pic.twitter.com/9ydVxMPHLh
— Boeing Defense (@BoeingDefense) August 5, 2024