From Aviation Week

 

Bill Redirects ARH Funds Toward UH-60s

Mar 23, 2007

 

The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) approved legislation March 22 that would transfer supplemental fiscal 2007 funds requested for two Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters (ARH) to replace two UH-60 Black Hawks lost in combat.

 

The roughly $122 billion bill also would fully fund seven other requested UH-60s, according to a summary of the legislation provided by SAC staff. The Senate is expected to take up the bill March 26, SAC Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) said after a markup hearing.

 

Bell Helicopter Textron's prototype ARH-70A crashed on a golf course in Mansfield, Texas, on Feb. 21 (DAILY, Feb. 23). Senators and their staff did not note the crash in their decision to redirect funds, but legislators across Capitol Hill have turned to military aircraft - and in particular, those under development if not delayed - to make up for other spending in the respective supplementals working through the House and Senate.

 

But not all developmental efforts are sacrificed, according to the SAC staff's summary. The panel provided $1.2 billion in requested defense research, development, test and evaluation funds, including $52 million to integrate advanced targeting pods on B-1 and B-52 bombers and Hellfire missiles on A-10 attack aircraft.

 

The committee also allocated $20 million to improve the targeting of Predator drones and $19 million to boost signals intelligence capabilities on Global Hawk unmanned aircraft.

 

The House, meanwhile, began debating its version of the supplemental spending bill March 22. Lawmakers may vote on March 23. Both bills contain provisions that try to effect a withdrawal timeline for U.S. combat troops in Iraq while re-emphasizing global antiterrorism efforts such as pursuing Al-Qaeda, drawing the concentrated resistance of Hill Republicans who decry the efforts as meddling in military decision making (DAILY, March 20).

From Flight International

 

DATE: 22/03/07

US Army orders Bell to stop work on ARH and come up with new plan

By Graham Warwick

 

The US Army has told Bell to stop work on the troubled ARH-70 Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) programme and given the company 30 days to come up with a plan to overcome spiralling costs and schedule delays. The ARH is intended to replace the army’s Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior.

 

The stop-work order was issued yesterday after a special Army Systems Acquisition Review Council meeting on the programme. The army says cost estimates for system development and demonstration (SDD) and low-rate initial production (LRIP) have grown by more than 50%, while the date for the first unit to be equipped has slipped from September 2008 to December 2009.

 

Bell has been given 30 days “to describe a strategy to maximize contract performance while minimizing the negative cost and schedule impact on the government”, says the army. Bell was awarded a $210 million development contract in July 2004, but the army says the estimate for completion of SDD is now more than $300 million.

 

The army also has firm fixed-priced options of the first two LRIP lots, and Bell has warned it will lose money on these helicopters. “We are not in negotiation with Bell on the price,” says the army, which originally planned to buy 368 ARHs, but recently increased this to 512 to include the National Guard.

 

Bell has built four flight-test ARH-70s under the SDD programme, but the third helicopter crashed on its first flight on 21 February after the engine lost power, possibly because of fuel starvation. The helicopters are grounded while the investigation continues.