Armed Aerial Scout

The Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) is the planned replacement for the OH-58 Kiowa in U.S. Army service.

History
The Armed Aerial Scout program replaces the previous Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter program. An Analysis of Alternatives is underway and a Request for Proposals is planned to be issued in 2014. The U.S. Army had until December 2012 to decide whether to proceed with the program. On 29 November 2012, Army officials decided to proceed with the Armed Aerial Scout program to acquire a new scout helicopter. On 8 January 2013, the Army began redrafting the presentation for the service’s vice chief of staff before they move ahead with a competition. Vice Chief of Staff General Lloyd Austin III requested more data from the voluntary flight demonstrations done on helicopter entries, as well as taking into account the pace of other technologies, such as unmanned capabilities and future sensors. The Army has concluded that its decision for the AAS program will result in either a new development effort or a service life-extension program (SLEP) for the OH-58F Kiowa. Evaluations of commercial off-the-shelf designs were made from voluntary flight demonstrations in 2012. The five candidates included the OH-58F Block II, AH-6i, AAS-72X/X+, MD 540F, and AW139M (used for demonstration, with AW169 AAS offered as candidate). The Sikorsky S-97 Raider was offered, but no prototype was available for demonstration. Army evaluations concluded that no current aircraft met requirements. A decision on the Armed Aerial Scout program is expected “in late summer or early fall” 2013. Boeing had attempted to stop MD Helicopters from offering its MD 540F in the program, as it shared the same airframe design as Boeing's AH-6. In July 2013, MD Helicopters was allowed to continue to promote its offering in the program. In October 2013, the Army said that the AAS program was at risk of being delayed or cancelled due to sequestration cuts.

Contenders


Contenders have included:
 * AAS-72X
 * In October 2010 a consortium of EADS North America, American Eurocopter and Lockheed Martin announced that is was preparing to fly the first of three AAS-72X prototypes. The design is in the same family as the Eurocopter UH-72 Lakota.


 * Bell OH-58F Block II
 * Upgrade of the current Kiowa Warrior.


 * Boeing AH-6S
 * Improved version of the MH-6 Little Bird


 * AgustaWestland AW109
 * Multipurpose light helicopter


 * Sikorsky S-97 Raider
 * In May 2009, Sikorsky unveiled a mock-up of its X2-based contender later given the company's S-97 designation.


 * OH-58D/AVX
 * Proposed by the AVX Aircraft Company is a modification of the current OH-58D design to meet the AAS requirement. The design uses the basic Kiowa fuselage and adds a counter-rotating coaxial rotor and two ducted fans.

Contenders by 2012
Candidate helicopters for interim replacement were to conduct flight demonstrations in spring 2012.

The contenders as of June 2012 are:
 * AgustaWestland AW139M - changed to AgustaWestland AW169 AAS
 * Boeing AH-6
 * EADS AAS-72X and AAS-72X+
 * Bell OH-58F Block II
 * Sikorsky S-97 Raider
 * MD Helicopters MD 540F