The American military was amazed by the scale of the reorganization of US Army aviation, which was communicated to them by the head of the Department of Defense. It will include the withdrawal of an older kind of impact helicopters and the cancellation or simplification of certain modernisation programmes. Missions, especially the most dangerous ones, alternatively of non-perspective manned machines are expected to execute drones in the future. This approach means the decommissioning of parts of existing airlines and the cancellation of plans to make fresh ones.
Military men in the United States gag that their plans are usually fundamentally changing wars or elections. This time, the commanders of the aviation of the U.S. Land Army—US Army Aviation—were amazed by the abrupt announcement by the fresh leadership of the Department of defence of Change regarding this component. – any of the decisions taken were not precisely what we proposed, but they were decisions made in a broader context by the Pentagon people who analyse the full army budget, priorities that are not entirely focused on aviation – he acknowledged at the yearly Army Aviation Association of America conference in Nashville held in early May, Gen. Dyw Clair Gill, commander of the Army Aviation Excellence Center in Fort Novosel, Alabama. The officer said he was not amazed by the planned cuts in aviation, but added: – any of them were just bigger than we thought. However, US Army Aviation Command has already begun to adapt its plans to the changing imagination of the civilian head of the Defence Ministry, which assumes the cancellation or limitation of key air programs, the decommissioning of military units and the withdrawal from the usage of older equipment.
These plans foretell the liquidation of the Air cavalry squadron, which has 11 combat aviation brigades in an active component, or US Army. This besides means giving up its creation in the German-based 12th Combat Aviation Brigade. The events of 2024 affected the destiny of these units. Then in February, a decision was made to cancel the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft program, in which a fresh strike and deployment chopper was to be selected. In March, 24 AH-64 reconnaissance drones, RQ-7B Shadow, were withdrawn from service, without introducing their successor. The Americans felt that in the future the most dangerous missions, and 1 specified recognition, should carry out fresh unmanned vehicles themselves.
The liquidation of the Air cavalry squadrons will contribute to the simplification of the AH-64 fleet, in which there are officially 812 machines. The military will be able to dispose of the costly in operation of the older AH-64D. The hr of their flight costs over $10,000, almost twice as much as the newer AH-64E. The simplification of units will besides reduce future purchases of the latter. As the AH-64E has 8 of 11 squadrons in its equipment, 192 free machines will appear, which will let to complete the fitting in them besides having 24 helicopters of 15 strike battalions, including 4 in the Army National Guard. 4 battalions – 3 in the active component and 1 in the defender – inactive fly to AH-64D. How will the remaining 96 AH-64Es be used? It is possible that Americans will increase the number of machines in existing units or make fresh impact battalions in the National Guard.
AH-64 is not the first kind of chopper in the U.S. Army aviation, the number of which has been decided to reduce in fresh years. In 2023 it was announced that 197 of the 2135 H-60 Black Hawk machines would be discontinued as the last of the oldest H-60A and H-60L parts. The simplification of this fleet began with the demise of major operations in the war on terrorism. Over 560 helicopters were withdrawn between 2014 and 1923. After cutting the U.S. Army aviation apart from about 1400 latest UH-60M and HH-60M will besides hold respective 100 UH-60V, which are upgraded UH-60L, but will not be as much as 760 as planned years ago.
New orders for Black Hawk produced for more than 40 years by the US Army will not be, as it is preparing to implement its successor, which was selected under the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program. The rivalry was won by the V-280 Valor. Recently, it was announced that its deliveries would start in 2028, 3 years earlier than expected, and as the first fresh equipment it will receive the 101st Airborne Division. This acceleration may include the cancellation of the fresh T901 to H-60 engine programme. This announcement coincided with the first test flight of a chopper equipped with a changed drive. Taking into account earlier work, about $1.5 billion was spent to make a fresh engine for H-60.
Although there is simply a tendency for more missions than manned aircraft and helicopters to carry out unmanned aircraft, there have besides been cuts. It was decided to discontinue purchases of MALE MQ-1C grey Eagle class unmanned crews, but the most amazing was the conclusion of the Future Tactical UAV program, which was to choice a drone for brigade combat teams in exchange for RQ-7B Shadow. Its search continued since 2018 and at that time various systems were tested. It's not that we don't want Future Tactical UAS. Just this program, which was being developed, did not meet our needs – he explained during the May Conference of the Army Aviation Association of America Deputy Chief of Staff of the US Army General James Mingus. It is known that ground troops do not want, among others, flying cameras that request large runways and loud as Shadow, whose working engine made sounds akin to lawn mowers.
Although US Army aviation is the most associated with helicopters, it besides has about 200 transport and reconnaissance aircraft. In this case, the cuts affected the HADES (High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System) program on the Bombardier Global 6500 jet platform for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. In 2024, the then manager of aviation of the American Army, General Dyw. Wally Rugen, showed during the Army Aviation Association of America conference in Denver a slide with information that plans to get 14 specified machines by 2035. Later, it was said at 12. Meanwhile, a defence News writer reached the paper of May 7, which asks the US Army to present within 30 days a plan on how to adapt to the construction of only six HADES aircraft. However, Andrew Evans, manager of the Intelligence, Supervision and Army designation Task Force, stated that there was never a circumstantial number of these machines, and that the size of the orders would depend on the level of risks and budgetary opportunities.
Although aviation is not at present the most crucial for the US Army, due to the fact that it has long-term and air and rocket defence systems that will require immense financial resources, the aviation component will not be neglected. U.S. Army Aviation can inactive number on supplies of equipment more adapted to the emerging concepts of future armed action, saturated with the latest technologies, offering fresh capabilities. Although the structures of military aviation will most likely be reduced, which will be associated with the likely simplification of the full super-power land forces.
