US Air Force receives first ‘production' MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopter

The USAF plans to station its first production MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopter at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. (US Air Force)

Boeing has delivered the first low-rate initial production (LRIP) MH-139A Grey Wolf medium-lift multirole helicopter to the US Air Force (USAF), the company announced on 5 August.

The platform is from a 2023 LRIP order for 13 helicopters, and another from that batch is planned for delivery “later this [boreal] summer”, a Boeing spokesperson told Janes.

In 2024 the USAF ordered another seven MH-139As, the company said. The USAF has six MH-139As from an earlier research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) order – the last of which was delivered in November 2023 – and those are now operational, the spokesperson said. In total, 26 Grey Wolf helicopters have been contracted to date.

The USAF in 2018 chose the MH-139 to replace its UH-1 Huey fleet for providing security and transportation at the service's nuclear missile silos, in addition to a VIP transport role. The twin-engine aircraft is based on Leonardo's commercial AW139 helicopter. The first LRIP platform delivered is to be stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, where the USAF hosts LGM-30G Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.

For more information, please seePentagon budget 2025: US Air Force cuts planned MH-139A purchase from 74 to 42.