Boeing wins bid to replace ‘Huey’ copters

In the battle to replace the aging “Huey” helicopter, Boeing has won.

Boeing will provide its MH-139 helicopter and related support to the U.S. Air Force to replace the more than 40-year-old UH-1N “Huey” helicopters, which are used to protect America’s intercontinental ballistic missile bases, Boeing and the Air Force announced Monday.

The program awarded is valued at $2.4 billion for up to 84 helicopters, training devices and associated support equipment.

Previously, the Boeing Co., teamed with Leonardo, had pitted its Italian-designed MH-139 helicopter built in Pennsylvania, against Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky HH-60U, an updated Black Hawk helicopter built in Connecticut.

The contracting program is managed at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and Special Operations Forces Directorate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the Dayton region’s and Ohio’s biggest single-site employer.

“We’re grateful for the Air Force’s confidence in our MH-139 team,” David Koopersmith, vice president and general manager, Boeing Vertical Lift, said in a statement from the company.

The MH-139 derives from the Leonardo AW139, which is used by more than 270 governments, militaries and companies worldwide. Leonardo will assemble the helicopters at its Philadelphia plant, with Boeing integrating military-specific components at its facility south of that city.