Boeing unconcerned about MH-139's European heritage in bid for USAF Huey replacement

[Zarvan]

Although derived from the European AW139, the MH-139 (pictured) will be a 'US-built' aircraft that fully complies with President Trump's 'Buy American' Executive Order, Boeing says. Source: Boeing

Boeing is not worried that its bid to secure the US Air Force's (USAF) UH-1N Huey Replacement Program might be scuppered by the European heritage of its MH-139-based proposal.

Speaking to reporters at the company's Vertical-Lift production facility in Philadelphia, Boeing's head for the programme, Rick Lemaster, said that, although based on the European AgustaWestland AW139, the MH-139 will be a US aircraft that fully complies with the latest 'Buy American' edict from President Donald Trump.

"Boeing will be the prime for this effort, with [AgustaWestland parent company] Leonardo supporting as the subcontractor. The AW139 is already built by Leonardo Helicopters in Philadelphia [just across from the Boeing factory] with a US workforce," Lemaster said on 18 May, adding, "The real key here is 'are you building the helicopter in the US?', and we are. We are fully compliant with the 'Buy American' Executive Order." President Trump signed an executive order on 'Buy American and Hire American' on 18 April, which the White House trumpeted as a sign of a new focus on putting US companies and employees first.

About 830 AW139s have been built to date, of which some 250 have rolled off the line in Philadelphia with the remainder having been built in Italy. While Leonardo does already build much of the Philadelphia-assembled AW139s in the United States, Lemaster conceded that this does not extend to the main fuselage, which is built in Poland and Turkey. He noted, however, that such international manufacturing arrangements are common for many 'US-built' aircraft (Boeing's own AH-64 Apache helicopter sources its fuselages from South Korea before the aircraft is assembled in Arizona), and that this does not detract from the US credentials of the Philadelphia-manufactured AW139s.

Lemaster explained that Boeing plans to leverage the US Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) certification that Leonardo already has with the AW139, as it bids to secure the USAF's requirement to replace its current 62 UH-1N Huey's helicopters with up to 84 new platforms.

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