Lawmakers Push Back on Air Force’s Scaled-Down Plans for MH-139 Helicopter

The Air Force scaled back its plans for the new MH-139 helicopter two years ago. The House Armed Services Committee is pushing back in its draft of the National Defense Authorization bill released May 26.

The proposed legislation would authorize four additional Grey Wolf helicopters on top of the four the Air Force requested in its 2027 budget. Lawmakers also want the Air Force to explain why it abandoned its plan to have the MH-139 fly VIP transport missions around Washington D.C.

USAF’s current idea is to modify existing HH-60W helicopters for the VIP mission and cap MH-139 production at 56 aircraft, down from the original plan of 80.

To that end, the Air Force is asking for $253 million for the MH-139 in 2027 to buy four choppers. The draft NDAA adds $128 million and four helicopters for a total of $380.5 million and eight aircraft.

The NDAA doesn’t actually appropriate funds for the Pentagon. But it does serve as a recommendation and an indication of lawmakers’ priorities.

And Congress has shown a willingness to add money for the MH-139 that the Air Force didn’t ask for—in its 2026 request, the Air Force requested $150 million in reconciliation funding, and Congress plussed up that up to $210 million.

The NDAA can also directs Pentagon policy and require military officials to conduct studies, provide reports, and appear for briefings. Members of the House committee showed their support for the MH-139 in that way too.

In language directing an Air Force report accompanying the bill, the committee stopped short of requiring the service to use the MH-139 for executive airlift in D.C. But members made their skepticism of the Air Force’s HH-60W plan clear.

“The committee remains concerned regarding the justification for transitioning these missions to an alternate rotary-wing platform and seeks additional details on cost and operational implications,” committee members wrote.

The tactical air and land forces subcommittee wants the Air Force Secretary to provide Congress with a report by December “assessing operational, cost, infrastructure, and readiness impacts of assigning any non-MH139A rotary-wing aircraft to continuity of government and transport of United States government officials and security forces in the National Capital Region.”

The executive airlift mission, which includes both rotary and fixed wing aircraft, is run by the 89th Airlift Wing out of Joint Base Andrews, Md. The wing’s 1st Helicopter Squadron currently operates UH-1N Hueys, which date back to the Vietnam War.

The Air Force says it wants to cut the MH-139 and focus on the HH-60W because“it is more cost effective to modify previously procured HH-60Ws contained in backup inventory than to procure additional MH-139A aircraft,” a spokesperson previously told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

In Flux

The MH-139’s main use is for security forces to patrol the Air Force’s sprawling nuclear missile fields in middle America. To accomplish that mission, the current program of record for the Grey Wolf is 56 aircraft, which includes eight aircrew trainers, according to budget documents.

The MH-139 is expected to reach full rate production and initial operational capability in August, according to budget documents.

The Grey Wolf is a militarized version of the civilian AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter that can carry up to 15 passengers, as compared to the 13 the Huey can carry.

The new helicopter provides crews with a 50 percent increase in both range and speed and a 5,000-pound increase in max gross weight. Back in 2018, the Air Force awarded a $2.38 billion contract to Boeing and Leonardo for 84 helicopters.

Since then, however, the program has suffered from fits and starts. The first MH-139 arrived at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida in December 2019 as the first helicopter the Air Force had procured directly. But in 2022 the USAF zeroed out funding for the program when the platform’s fielding was delayed while trying to achieve Federal Aviation Administration certification.

Money came back in the 2023 budget, but the service cut the total number down to 80 aircraft. In 2024 the service slashed the program by nearly half, seeking 42 MH-139As and cutting how many installations where the helo would be based.

The service narrowed its operational locations to three ICBM facilities:

F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo.
Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont.
Minot Air Force Base, N.D.

The helicopter is also flown out of Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., where its formal training unit is located.

In its 2026 budget request, the Air Force bumped the program back to 56 helicopters, where the program currently stands. Boeing delivered the first Grey Wolf production aircraft in 2025, and by January the contractor said it had delivered 21 helicopters so far.