Well I've been keeping an eye on this issue for quite sometime now. To be clear except for some the National Guard
might (Older model
OH-58 KIOWA A/C) have, the
OH-58D KIOWA is the current version flown by both the USA and National Guard. Based on the following refs. The USA will officially retire them when the
1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division returns to Fort Bragg N.C. probably in
June 2017 as these types of rotations are
GENERALLY one year unaccompanied tours.
https://www.stripes.com/news/us/fort...korea-1.446206
They are currently involved in an exercise in South Korea which more then likely has been extended due to N. Koreas very recent ICBM missiles launches (Attempts).
https://www.stripes.com/news/pacific...korea-1.450886
So where does that leave us? Well the
OH-58D for the USA again will be retired as noted above by
JUNE 2017 at the latest I would suspect. The National Guard will continue to fly the
OH-58D and receive some from the USA as well, this to meet their combat requirements, more on that below. Others will be put into storage and sold off to foreign countries as has already happened.
So Greece again as I noted with the
F-16V could do worse as again the
OH-58D KIOWA has seen some upgrades.
Ah but everyone is concerned about what's happening with the
OH-58D, can the
AH-64E GUARDIAN/or AH-64D LONGBOW handle the interim scouting mission (Yes the
64E especially.) yes they can and finally what will the future be? Well not to sound "
all doom and gloom" it won't matter because game wise we'll never see it by 2025.
Why would I bring this up? Because nobody is talking about the
OH-58F which became operational in 2013. The problem is the USA has them however not in enough numbers to cover the USA requirements to fulfill the mission, ergo back to the
AH-64D/E to fill the gap. A quote from the first ref. below it. The "emboldening" is mine...
"In its FY 2015 Budget,
the Army decided to retire all Kiowa Warrior A, C and D models. It is
unknown whether it will also retire already upgraded
OH-58F models." So far nothing is out there to say they are going to officially. If it stays that way the
OH-58F upgrade was intended was intended to keep those "birds" relevant to
2025. From the data I can get I believe the USA has about 30 to
maybe 40 of the OH-58F models before all funding was cut out in the
FY 2015 (Oct. 2014 - Sep. 2015) Budget. Full rate production and conversion has been canceled beyond the above craft for the
OH-58F.
http://www.fi-aeroweb.com/Defense/OH...a-Warrior.html
https://www.army.mil/article/102288/...rcraft_profile
http://www.military-today.com/helicopters/oh58f.htm
http://helihub.com/tag/oh-58f/
And note
this is not the AVX proposed upgrade program which is totally a separate issue from the OH-58F upgrade.
More on the
OH-58D...
https://thetacticalhermit.com/2016/0...opter-by-2017/
http://abc11.com/news/armys-kiowa-wa...ation/1293251/
http://www.janes.com/article/59599/u...raining-flight
http://www.militarytimes.com/picture...tion/83186360/
http://www.usar.army.mil/News/Displa...one-last-time/
And finally the
UH-72A...
I'm going to keep this simple it's a game "
non-starter", why? Well the last I checked we don't use helicopter
ambulances in the game ICO the USA. Second the
somewhat "militarized" model is used by the National Guard (NG) for Homeland Security Missions which is clearly spelled out by the manufacturers ref. below and the rest. Of the 385 "birds" allocated for already over 200 are destined for the NG. The USA is seeking to increase the final number to 415 which, I believe has been approved.
http://airbushelicoptersinc.com/prod...2a-product.asp
http://uh-72a.com/about/milestones.asp
http://www.military-today.com/helico...72a_lakota.htm
http://www.fi-aeroweb.com/Defense/UH-72-Lakota-LUH.html
http://www.army-technology.com/projects/uh-72a-lakota/
http://www.military.com/equipment/uh-72a-lakota
https://www.army.mil/article/137585
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AT9Dy3ToAw
Lastly and sadly we recently lost a fine officer that some refer to as "The Father of Air Assault"...
https://www.stripes.com/news/us/reti...at-94-1.453672
To summarize... I haven't checked but, it should be obvious if the
UH-72A LAKOTA is in the game then we can celebrate by having more slots available! Always a good thing. The
OH-58D I still feel
JUN 2016 is a very viable retirement date based on the above. And I suspect the
OH-58F will end up being an add from around
JAN 2014 - DEC 2025. I'm "splitting" the difference here on the start date, due to the dates I'm seeing on the web as noted by a couple of the refs. above as well. She'll see far w/
TI/GSR 60.
Pictures...
Well it's "
hump day" so I'm off to bed so, a good night or morning to ya!!!
Regards,
Pat
