The Army National Guard (ARNG) operations tempo is the highest it has ever been in support of the full spectrum of state missions including; search and rescue, utility/lift, disaster relief, fire fighting, medical evacuation - all while sustaining combat deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans. This high operations tempo is wearing out the National Guard H-60 Black Hawk helicopter fleet much faster than planned.
The Army National Guard fleet includes more than 700 Black Hawks. As a result of growth in the Army's H-60 MEDEVAC helicopter requirement, the ARNG Black Hawk fleet will grow to 899 helicopters during the next 3 years. When fully equipped, the Army National Guard will own and operate more than 500 of the older UH-60A models. The UH-60A is more expensive to operate, is performance limited at higher altitudes, and has a 1000 lbs lower payload capability than the newer "L" and "M" models.
The Army is modernizing the Black Hawk fleet with two initiatives: fielding new UH-60M utility and HH-60M MEDEVAC helicopters; and re-capitalizing and converting UH-60A models to the UH-60L configuration. Together, these two initiatives upgrade between 100 and 115 H-60s per year; however, the pace is not fast enough to keep up with the rapidly aging Black Hawk Fleet. At currently funded rates, the Army will not retire the UH-60A Black Hawk fleet until 2025. By 2025, the "A" model Black Hawks will be more than 35 years old.
Representative Rodney Alexander (LA) is sponsoring a letter to the House Armed Services and the House Appropriations Committees requesting that 20 additional UH/HH-60M and UH-60L conversions are funded in the FY2011 Budget for the Army National Guard. The deadline for co-sponsor signatures is Tuesday, March 9, 2010, by the close of business. Urge your Representative to support the National Guard’s efforts to fund these critical modernization programs by signing on to this letter.
