Air Force to add back over a dozen MH-139 helos in FY26, averting ‘critical’ cost breach

WASHINGTON — After moving to halve the fleet in fiscal year 2025, a new Pentagon review says the Air Force now plans to add over a dozen MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopters back into the aircraft’s program of record — averting a “critical” cost breach in the process. 

The planned procurement boost is likely a boon to prime contractor Boeing as well as Italian firm Leonardo, whose commercial AW139 serves as the Grey Wolf’s baseline. The Air Force previously sought 80 airframes, but the FY25 budget had slashed the buy to 42. Then on Friday the Pentagon released a Selected Acquisition Report [PDF] on the program that revealed the service has been authorized to add 14 helicopters back, coming to a total of “at least 56 air vehicles.”

The SAR appears to be a limited preview of the service’s FY26 budget, details that are typically closely held until the Pentagon unveils its spending plan in the spring of each year. An Air Force spokesperson told Breaking Defense the service has no additional comment, and a Boeing spokesperson deferred questions about procurement plans to the Air Force.

A replacement for the aging UH-1N Huey, the Grey Wolf’s primary task will be to patrol the service’s sprawling nuclear missile silos, a mission that Air Force acquisition czar Andrew Hunter previously said would be fully funded despite expected cuts to other old Huey roles like VIP transport and civilian search and rescue.

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Now that the Grey Wolf fleet is apparently expanding, it’s unclear whether the helos will take back on some of those roles that seemed destined for the chopping block. According to Hunter, the Grey Wolf buy was previously reduced due to topline affordability constraints. 

Axing the helo’s procurement triggered what’s known as a “critical” Nunn-McCurdy cost breach, as the total program cost was to be spread over far fewer aircraft. According to the SAR, the increased procurement planned for FY26 will cause unit costs to fall below the critical Nunn-McCurdy threshold, though the cost breach will still be considered “significant” under statutory guidance. 

After deferring procurement to get the requisite FAA certifications, the Air Force restarted acquisition of the helicopter in FY23. Hunter formally approved the Grey Wolf to begin production last year, and Boeing announced in August that the company delivered the first low-rate initial production aircraft to the service. 

In August 2023, Air Force officials said they secured a path forward for the helo’s technical data packages, making headway on a traditionally thorny issue for industry that should allow for more service-led maintenance and competition among contractors for sustainment.