M1 Support Services has secured a contract valued at up to $10 billion to lead the US Army’s Flight School Next program, introducing a new approach to providing initial flight training for the military’s rotary-wing aviators.
The 26-year agreement is based on a contractor-owned, contractor-operated model and is intended to provide a modern and cost-effective training fleet. The new aircraft will assume the flight-preparatory training role currently performed by the UH-72 Lakota, which has served the Army since the 2000s.
M1 Support Services won the competition against several industry teams, including Bell Textron with the 505 Jet Ranger X, MD Helicopters with the 530F, Boeing and Leonardo with the AW119T, and Enstrom Helicopter with the 480B.
The M1 team includes Robinson Helicopter Company, Quantum Helicopters, General Dynamics Information Technology, and the University of North Dakota Aerospace Foundation. The group is expected to support approximately 800 to 1,500 aviation crews annually at Fort Rucker, Alabama.
Robinson R66 Selected for Training
The M1-led team has proposed a training platform based on Robinson Helicopter Company’s R66, a 30-foot (9-meter) helicopter with more than 1,900 aircraft currently operating across military and civilian flight training programs.
The R66 has an empty weight of 1,290 pounds (585 kilograms), a rotor diameter of 33 feet (10 meters), and can carry up to 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms) of external cargo.
Powered by a Rolls-Royce RR300 turboshaft engine producing approximately 270 horsepower, the helicopter can reach a maximum speed of 140 knots (161 mph/259 km/h), with a range of 350 nautical miles (403 miles/648 kilometers) and a service ceiling of 14,000 feet (4,267 meters).
For training operations, the aircraft can be equipped with Garmin G500H TXi and GTN750 touchscreen flight displays, a 4K video camera, impact-resistant windshields, crash-resistant fuel cells, and a cockpit compatible with night vision goggles.
