The Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) was the planned replacement for the

OH-58 Kiowa The Bell OH-58 Kiowa is a family of single-engine single-rotor military helicopters used for observation, utility, and direct fire support. It was produced by the American manufacturer Bell Helicopter and is closely related to the Model 206A ...

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

service.

History

The Armed Aerial Scout program replaced the previous Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter program, which chose the

Bell ARH-70 Arapaho The Bell ARH-70 Arapaho was an American four-bladed, single-engine, light military helicopter designed for the United States Army's Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) program. With a crew of two and optimized for urban combat, the ARH-70 wa ...

that was canceled due to cost overruns. An

Analysis of Alternatives The Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) in the United States is a requirement of military acquisition policy, as controlled by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the United States Department of Defense (DoD). It ensures that at least three fea ...

was conducted and a Request for Proposals was planned to be issued in 2014. The U.S. Army had until December 2012 to decide whether to proceed with the program. On 29 November 2012, Army officials decided to proceed with the Armed Aerial Scout program to acquire a new scout helicopter. On 8 January 2013, the Army began redrafting the presentation for the service's vice chief of staff before they move ahead with a competition. Vice Chief of Staff General

Lloyd Austin III Lloyd James Austin III (born August 8, 1953) is a retired United States Army four-star general who, since his appointment on January 22, 2021, has served as the 28th United States secretary of defense. He is the first African American to serv ...

requested more data from the voluntary flight demonstrations done on helicopter entries, as well as taking into account the pace of other technologies, such as unmanned capabilities and future sensors. The Army concluded that its decision for the AAS program would result in either a new development effort or a service life-extension program (SLEP) for the OH-58F Kiowa. Evaluations of

commercial off-the-shelf Commercial off-the-shelf or commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) products are packaged or canned (ready-made) hardware or software, which are adapted aftermarket to the needs of the purchasing organization, rather than the commissioning of ...

designs were made from voluntary flight demonstrations in 2012. The five candidates included the OH-58F Block II,

AH-6 The Boeing AH-6 is a series of light helicopter gunships based on the MH-6 Little Bird and MD 500 family. Developed by Boeing Rotorcraft Systems, these include the Unmanned Little Bird (ULB) demonstrator, the A/MH-6X Mission Enhanced Little Bir ...

i, AAS-72X/X+, MD 540F, and AW139M (used for demonstration, with AW169 AAS offered as candidate). The

Sikorsky S-97 Raider The Sikorsky S-97 Raider is a high-speed scout and attack compound helicopter based on the Advancing Blade Concept (ABC) with a coaxial rotor system under development by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky planned to offer it for the United States ...

was offered, but no prototype was available for demonstration. Army evaluations concluded that no current aircraft met requirements.Drwiega, Andrew.
Proceed with Caution: JMR Tech Demo Phase 1
''

Aviation Today Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

'', 1 November 2013. Accessed: 5 October 2014. A decision on the Armed Aerial Scout program was expected "in late summer or early fall" 2013. Boeing had attempted to stop

MD Helicopters MD Helicopters, LLC. (formerly McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems) is an American aerospace manufacturer. It produces light utility helicopters for commercial and military use. The company was a subsidiary of Hughes Aircraft until 1984, when Mc ...

from offering its MD 540F in the program, as it shared the same airframe design as Boeing's AH-6. In July 2013, MD Helicopters was allowed to continue to promote its offering in the program. In October 2013, the Army said that the AAS program was at risk of being delayed or canceled due to sequestration cuts. The Armed Aerial Scout program ended in late 2013 with no alternative scout helicopter being selected for procurement. In 2012, Army leaders had thought a new aircraft was the best option. After sequestration in early 2013, the expected $16 billion cost of a new armed scout helicopter fleet was concluded to be too much. The Army then moved on with considerations for scrapping the entire OH-58 Kiowa fleet and moving more AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters to the active Army for use in the scouting role. AAS requirements for a scout helicopter with increased speed, range, payload, and the ability to fly high at 35 °C (95 °F) temperatures will remain and whether one will be bought will depend on aircraft availability and Army funds. Even if the competition is not reopened, the Army will develop a new scout helicopter as part of the

Future Vertical Lift Future Vertical Lift (FVL) is a plan to develop a family of military helicopters for the United States Armed Forces. Five different sizes of aircraft are to be developed, sharing common hardware such as sensors, avionics, engines, and counterm ...

program.

Contenders

Contenders have included: ;AAS-72X *In October 2010 a consortium of EADS North America, American Eurocopter and Lockheed Martin announced that it was preparing to fly the first of three AAS-72X prototypes. The design is in the same family as the

Eurocopter UH-72 Lakota The Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) UH-72 Lakota is a twin-engine helicopter with a single, four-bladed main rotor. The UH-72 is a militarized version of the Eurocopter EC145, built by American Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters, Inc.), a ...

. ; Bell OH-58F Block II *Upgrade of the current Kiowa Warrior. ; Boeing AH-6S *Improved version of the

MH-6 Little Bird The Boeing MH-6M Little Bird (nicknamed the Killer Egg) and its attack variant, the AH-6, are light helicopters used for special operations in the United States Army. Originally based on a modified OH-6A, it was later based on the MD 500E, w ...

;

AgustaWestland AW109 The AgustaWestland AW109, originally the Agusta A109, is a lightweight, twin-engine, eight-seat multi-purpose helicopter designed and initially produced by the Italian rotorcraft manufacturer Agusta. It was the first all-Italian helicopter to ...

*Multipurpose light helicopter ;

*In May 2009, Sikorsky unveiled a mock-up of its X2-based contender later given the company's S-97 designation. ;OH-58D/AVX *Proposed by the AVX Aircraft Company is a modification of the current OH-58D design to meet the AAS requirement.Product History OH-58D/AVX
The design uses the basic Kiowa fuselage and adds a counter-rotating coaxial rotor and two ducted fans.

Contenders by 2012

Candidate helicopters for interim replacement were to conduct flight demonstrations in spring 2012. The contenders as of June 2012 were: * AgustaWestland AW139M - changed to AgustaWestland AW169 AAS *

Boeing AH-6 The Boeing AH-6 is a series of light helicopter gunships based on the MH-6 Little Bird and MD 500 family. Developed by Boeing Rotorcraft Systems, these include the Unmanned Little Bird (ULB) demonstrator, the A/MH-6X Mission Enhanced Little Bir ...

* EADS AAS-72X and AAS-72X+ * Bell OH-58F Block II *

* MD Helicopters MD 540F"AgustaWestland demonstrates AW139 for US Army AAS programme"
army-technology.com, 5 July 2012.

References

External links

Armed Aerial Scout Helicopter Request for Information
fbo.gov, 26 January 2010.
Sources Sought for Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH)
fbo.gov, 7 November 2008.
Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) paper
U.S. Army, 22 March 2010.

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313165506/http://www.aviationtoday.com/rw/military/attack/ARH-Program_32493.html , date=13 March 2012 . Rotor & Wing magazine, 1 June 2009.
New Attitudes about UAVs Shape Army’s Scout Helicopter Program
NDIA, April 2010
"U.S. Army ARH Program Undergoes Major Shift"
Aviation Week, 24 April 2009.
Armed Aerial Scout 72X
Airbus Helicopters proposal for the AAS.
Kiowa Warrior Block II
Bell Helicopter's proposal for the Armed Scout. Military aircraft procurement programs of the United States