USMC Helo Programs Could Help Pay for F-35

The U.S. Marine Corps is fighting the proposal to truncate or slow down production

of the UH-1N, above, and the AH-1W. (Marine Corps)

15 Nov 2011By DAVE MAJUMDAR DefenseNews

As the U.S. defense budget begins to fall, the U.S. Marine Corps is struggling to balance its aviation portfolio in internal budget deliberations, one senior defense official said. Two programs that might suffer are the Marines' UH-1Y utility and AH-1Z attack helicopters.

"The UH-1Y and AH-1Z programs are exceedingly successful," one senior defense official said. But "the [Department of the Navy] is looking to make them bill payers once again to help pay for [F-35B Joint Strike Fighter] overrun costs."

The Marines are fighting the proposal to truncate or slow down production of the two helicopters. The Marines' current fleet of the UH-1N and AH-1W helicopters, which were old before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, are worn out from a decade of nearly continuous combat.

"They absolutely need to be replaced," said retired Marine Lt. Gen. George Trautman, who served as the service's deputy commandant for aviation. "The Marine Corps is not getting out of the attack helicopter business."

"It will be significantly important that we fund the entire program," the senior defense official said. "We do not get completely out for the AH-1W business as it stands now until fiscal year 19."

Trautman said that developing the Marines' aviation budget is a balancing act.

"You just have to balance your portfolio and over time you have to figure out how to manage the money that's available to get the Marine Corps what they believe they must have," he said. Trautman said that if the UH-1Y and AH-1Z program are cut, "it'll only be some trimming at the margins I'd suspect."

The Marines have the most ambitious aviation modernization plan of any of the U.S. services, said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at the Teal Group, Fairfax, Va.

"There is a real danger here that the DoD starts viewing that pot of cash as a complete entity and forcing the Marines to make tough decisions," he said. "It's been a long time since they've had to make tough decisions."

The cost overruns for the F-35B are too large to be taken from any single program; instead the more likely scenario is one where the JSF program has to absorb most its own costs within the program, Trautman said.

"That's not good for the Marine Corps either," Trautman said. "That could potentially mean a slip in delivery rates."

But the Marines must have 420 F-35s, Trautman said. "There is no give there," he said. "The pace they reach 420 is the only thing in question."

Overall, the Marines' aviation portfolio is in great shape, Trautman said.

"The Marine Corps is in a very positive situation right now, but it's in some ways a challenging situation," he said.

The Marines' aviation plan was always risky, Aboulafia said, and depended in many respects on the service's allies in Congress because most of its hardware is specific to the Marines. But the nation's tough financial situation could put the Marines in a tricky situation, he said.

"They were always dependent upon the pro-Marine lobby in Congress, but in a budget environment like this, there is a lot of risk," Aboulafia said.

All of the Marines' aviation programs are very healthy at the moment, Trautman said. The MV-22 program is doing very well three years into a five-year buy, therefore it is difficult to pull money from that program, he said.

The UH-1Y and AH-1Z is also doing well.

"But they're not in a multiyear, so that's one place where you can go to get a little bit of money, Trautman said.

Given the Marine's absolute need for an attack helicopter, the service's best option might be to delay the UH-1Y and try to stretch out whatever life remains in the UH-1N, Aboulafia said.

"This is yet another conflict between transformation and current capabilities," he said.

The Marines' CH-53K is another program where money can be shuffled from if there are more urgent priorities, but those are research and development funds, which doesn't necessarily translate into procurement dollars, Trautman said.

The Marines need all of the aircraft that it is developing or currently procuring, Trautman said. The service desperately needs the F-35B, UH-1Y, AH-1Z, MV-22 and CH-53K, he said.

"There is not a lot of flexibility in the Marine Corps aviation portfolio because a lot of money is tied up in platforms," Trautman said. "They are 100 percent committed to these platforms," he said.