The Air Force on Thursday unveiled its replacement for the “Huey” helicopter.
Gen. Timothy Ray, commander of the Air Force Global Strike Command, officially dubbed the new MH-139 helicopter the “Grey Wolf” during a ceremony celebrating the delivery of the first helicopter on Thursday. In his remarks, Ray compared the helicopter to its animal namesake.
“It strikes fear in the hearts of many,” Ray said.
The Grey Wolf’s predecessor, the UH-1N Huey, a name popularized by service members saying the two letters of its designation, first entered US Army service in 1959. As a support helicopter for the Army and Marine Corps in the jungles of Vietnam, where 7,013 UH-1 saw service and 3,305 were destroyed.
In Vietnam, total 1,074 Huey pilots and 1,103 other crew members were killed. It entered Air Force service in 1970.
The new aircraft will provide security for intercontinental ballistic missile bases in Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, Colorado, and Nebraska, but also is capable of search and rescue operations, airlift, survival school testing, and missions protecting Washington, D.C.
“As they hunt as a pack, they attack as one, they bring the force of many,” Ray said. “That’s exactly how you need to approach the nuclear security mission.”
It’s the first major acquisition in the strike command’s 10-year history. Boeing won the $2.38 billion replacement contract by undercutting the Air Force’s proposed budget for the program by $1.7 billion. The defense contractor will provide 84 aircraft to the command.
With the Grey Wolf entering service, the Air Force becomes the last U.S. service to replace the Huey. Foreign militaries continue to use variants.
The Grey Wolf “cruises 50% faster, flies 50% farther, has a 30% larger cabin, and can lift 5,000 more pounds” than the older aircraft, according to Boeing. It also features a “full autopilot capability.”
Ray said he hopes the purchase of the new helicopter is a positive sign of things to come in the military’s otherwise complicated acquisition process.
