Questions Swirl Around MV-75 And Army Aviation

Yeah, so the past several months have really been interesting for the MV-75 program, really since we got its name back at Quad A in the spring, the Cheyenne II.

So if we go back to the beginning of the year, then Army Chief of Staff General George said that he expected a prototype to be delivered by the end of this calendar year, which was on a new, very, very aggressive schedule for the program.

Talking to some Army aviation leaders, they basically had no wiggle room, no real room for any – Anything to really happen to meet the schedule.

But unfortunately, some things happened.

There was a lot of worry about money running out within fiscal year 26 that would lead to a stop work order.

Back in July, I believe, there were layoffs at Bell Textron on the program.

So the Army had asked for reprogramming to keep it going.

Text Run has said they'll put some money in to keep it progressing as they await this funding.

So there are going to be some impacts on that schedule.

I'm really looking forward to discussions at AUSA to get some more clarity on where things stand.

As I mentioned, General George had expected that prototype by two months from now, but that is appearing very unlikely.

About a month ago or so, the head of Army Aviation, General Gill, had an industry day where he said he expected delivery of the prototype at the end of fiscal 27.

So that's basically about a year from now, a little less than a year from now.

There may have been some impact since then.

So I'd be looking for a lot of insight on where the program does stand.

There does seem to be some still uncertainty, especially on the Hill.

There's a letter by 87 lawmakers led by Senator Moran of Kansas, where the MV-75 is being built, and Congressman Jackson from Bell's district in Texas, urging a lot of support from both the Pentagon and OMB to keep funding going on the MV-75.

So hopefully we'll get a big update on where things do stand on this program and on an overall review of Army aviation that has been going on this year.

And I know Steve has things to share on that.

That's obviously, I mean, it is kind of the flagship program for the Army aviation community right now.

So it's kind of, I think, a bit of a gut punch if

that's slow rolled.

Yeah, absolutely.

Every egg is in that basket, really, on Army modernization in aviation.

They have the name going.