U.S. Revives H-1 Fleet Replacement Plan In Pending Survey

A market survey expected to be released this summer will revive the U.S. Marine Corps process of setting requirements for the aircraft that will replace the Bell A/UH-1 helicopter fleet after 2040.

The pending request for information (RFI) puts the Future Attack Strike (FAST) program back in motion seven years after the Marines halted planning for the Attack Utility Replacement Aircraft (AURA), which was set to replace the AH-1Z and UH-1Y fleets a decade earlier.

The RFI will ask industry for input on available technologies in the FAST planning horizon of 2040 and beyond, said Col. Scott Shadforth, director of the Expeditionary Maritime Aviation—Advanced Development Team. A conceptual design and effectiveness analysis for FAST are among the projects that would be funded under a $9.325 million line item proposed in the U.S. Navy’s research development test and evaluation budget.

“That information is going to go back to the Marine Corps as they start to develop and refine requirements, and then we will conduct the appropriate mission engineering to give you a more refined requirement,” Shadworth said, speaking on stage at the Modern Day Marine exhibition on April 28.

When the Marine Corps released an RFI for AURA in September 2019, the requirement called for replacing the AH-1Zs and UH-1Ys with a rotorcraft capable of speeds up to 295 kt. (339.4 mph) and a combat radius up to 450 nm.

The program’s title implies that speed remains part of the Marine Corps’ plans for FAST, but Shadforth said the details of the configuration, crewing and performance of the aircraft remain wide open.

“Everything is on the table: manned, unmanned, optionally piloted,” Shadforth said. “I think there are good avenues to take a look at conventional rotary wing [aircraft], tiltrotors. Maybe there’s something else out there.”

After shelving AURA, the Marines regrouped by funding a modernization program to extend the life of the AH-1Z and UH-1Y fleets. The upgrades have added new weapons, such as the L3 Harris Precision Attack Strike Missile and the Link 16 datalink. The FAST program will build on those capabilities in the requirements for the AH-1Z and UH-1Y fleet replacement.

“We’re going to need a platform that’s going to come off the shelf, that’s ready to talk on various waveforms with various services and various command and control networks,” Shadforth said.