Air Force rewriting UH-1N replacement RFP

After running into problems with the initial RFP to replace the UH-1N in the Air Force fleet, it was announced that they are rewriting the RFP into another draft. After the first draft was released, interested manufacturers approached the AF saying that they had nothing off the shelf that could meet the requirements in it. The changes will allow integration of Non-Developmental Items into the platform before they reach Milestone-C.

The plan is still to award the contract in FY18, with delivery in FY20/21. They're looking at buying up to 84 aircraft to replace the 62 UH-1s that are flying. The existing fleet is used for multiple missions, and several of them have over 10,000 hours on the airframes. They're getting harder to maintain, and to perform the missions required of them.

The U.S. Air Force plans to release a second draft request for proposals (RFP) in April for its UH-1N helicopter replacement program following industry feedback that its current platforms don’t meet all the requirements contained in the previous draft.

The Air Force plans to call for acquiring 84 UH-1N replacement helicopters. This development means the release of a final RFP would be delayed until mid-year.

“Following release of the draft RPF, interested offerors identified that their off-the-shelf platforms would not meet all threshold requirements,” said a USAF statement.

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Thats the price of producing airframes to keep the fleet going vs what the future wants for the government..Not understanding the technology is a problem..Or a case of financial toing and froing amongst bidders?