US Army continues pivot to large-scale combat operations from counter-insurgency in the shadow of world events

US Army Aviation has continued down the road of reshaping its forces in the face of a changed threat compared to that which dominated the first two decades of the century by implementing fleet changes and changing priorities.

In the 2000s and 2010s, the US Army developed a force more adapted to dealing with non-conventional forces, but in the face of Chinese boldness and military glowering along with Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, Army Aviation has begun to rapidly adopt a new posture.

Speaking at Defence iQ’s International Military Helicopter conference in London on 27 February, Maj Gen Walter Rugen, director of US Army Aviation, highlighted the changes underway particularly as regards European and Indo-Pacific commands.

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Core changes related to platform upgrades, a renewed commitment to uncrewed systems and the introduction of newer Non-LoS (NLoS) weapons to provide greater reach and expanded capability, as well as a focus on modular open-system architecture systems.

An aspect of the changes can be seen as an investment in a capability that would deter potential opponents such as China or Russia while maintaining an existing capability developed to confront different and often asymmetric threats.

Maj Gen Rugen highlighted the changes being introduced to the Army’s Black Hawk fleet as a way this can be achieved while also providing other advantages and providing fleet optimisation.

“We have reduced Black Hawk fleet by 157 aircraft and the reason for this is that from 2004 to 2010 we grew our UH-60 fleet from about 1,800 to 2,135 to support our surge in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Maj Gen Rugen said.

“Since then our end strength has returned to 2004 levels with no commensurate reduction in UH-60 fleet. The aircraft we divest will be the older Lima and Alpha variants and will come from our active component and our repair cycle.

“The reduction amounts to about a 7.5% decrease in our requirement and provides increased readiness and reduced maintenance costs.”

Other moves outlined would see the army continue to field AH-64 V6 to 2028, the UH-60 and HH-60M through 2026, with plans to formally enter into production for the Ch-47F Block II and a path to full-rate production in the future.

The fielding of the MQ-1C Gray Eagle Extended Range UAS will be expected this year, while the fielding of the Gray Eagle 25M will be expected in FY27 and the software upgrade to AH-64E to improve commonality will begin in FY26. Between August and November this year, the Spike NLoS missile will be delivered to 101^st, 16^th and 12^th Cavalry Regiments.

The demise of Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) this month was also believed to have been in the light of the Ukraine war with the need for a rapid change over riding the requirement for an advanced next-generation such as that being produced under the FARA requirement. The preferred option was considered to be investment in UAS and other weapons.

Related Programmes in Defence Insight

MQ-1 Gray Eagle [US Army]

Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) [USA]

Related Equipment in Defence Insight

Gray Eagle 25M