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US Army Ready to Go Either Way on ARH Verdict
The senior US Army Aviation team speaking at AUSA here today still believes in the Army’s requirement for an Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH). However they are preparing to react to either of the two possible outcomes following the OSD decision expected soon.
If the OSD decides to recertify the programme then “we will work with Bell to move on to production as quickly as possible,” said MG James Barclay III, recently appointed Army Aviation branch chief. The second option, should OSD decide on the non-certification of Bell’s ARH-70A, would be a “re-evaluation of other possible platform options.”
The Army Aviation panel included Paul Bogosian, Program Executive Officer, Army Aviation, as well as MG James Myles, commanding general, AMCOM, and BG Walter Davies, director, Army Aviation. They admitted that they had already started a general reappraisal of what else might be available to fulfil the ARH requirement.
Rotorhub.com asked whether the whole basis of the ARH concept needed to be re-assessed, given the combined effects of the delay to the fielding of ARH, the oncoming development and production of Block III Apache and the onrushing inevitability of more and more Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).
“As UAS have been fielded, the requirement for manned helicopter missions has also grown,” said Myles. “What is being decreased is the time between sensor to shooter.” He said that the situational curiosity of crewman in manned platforms still proved an irreplaceable advantage.
Paul Bogosian, who is in his final year as PEO Aviation, was asked to recall the highs and lows of his four year term of office (he has actually been involved in US Army Aviation for 25 years). He recalled the moment the decision was made to cancel the Comanche programme (what is it with reconnaissance helicopters and the US Army?) But as a result of that decision Bogosian was charged by General Cody with executing the revitalisation of US Army Aviation with the dividend that the cancellation provided by the time his ‘watch’ period had finished.
With the exception of the ARH, Bogosian said “everything he wanted me to do has been done.” On the down side he lamented the amount of time and wasted effort that had been spent on projects that, for one reason or another, had not come to fruition. He said that the Vietnam force that he had found coming into the job had now been totally transformed but asked what would be required in terms of vertical manoeuvre and support to the ground commander after the present tranche of projects had been completed around 2025. He called for clear and early views on the need for investment in projects yet to be described and defined.
By Andrew Drwiega, Washington, DC
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