In a sweeping overhaul of the service’s force structure, senior Pentagon officials have directed the US Army to end procurement of what they call “obsolete” and “outdated” aircraft platforms.
These include the older D-model of Boeing’s AH-64 attack helicopter and the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-1C Gray Eagle reconnaissance uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV). Numerous ground combat systems are also targeted for reduction, with the goal of freeing up funds for modernisation.
Dubbed the Army Transformation Initiative (ATI), the reform effort was directed by secretary of defense Pete Hegseth, who has publicly championed an effort to improve the US military’s lethality and cut Pentagon spending deemed not to be supporting that goal.
In a 30 April memo, Hegseth directed the army to divest “outdated, redundant and inefficient” programmes in favour of new priorities, including long-range precision munitions and air and missile defence.
Hegseth has also directed the army’s top civil official to reform the service’s acquisition system, which he describes as riven with “parochial interests”.
When it comes to existing aviation assets, the memo specifically calls for reducing and restructuring “manned attack helicopter formations”, which will be supplanted by “inexpensive drone swarms capable of overwhelming adversaries”.
While Hegseth’s order does not mention specific platforms, a joint memo from army chief of staff General Randy George and army secretary Dan Driscoll released on 1 May sheds further light on the plans.
“We will cancel procurement of outdated crewed attack aircraft such as the AH-64D… and obsolete UAVs like the Gray Eagle,” the pair say.
The announcement came on the same day that General Atomics touted the participation of its Gray Eagle Extended Range in the army’s Project Convergence event – a series of test exercises meant to experiment with new technologies and equipment. General Atomics landed its first order for the latest Gray Eagle 25M version in 2024 – from the Army National Guard.
Notably, the ATI plan will eliminate 11 aerial cavalry squadrons across the active duty army – one for each of the service’s combat aviation brigades. Such squadrons provide airborne reconnaissance and fire support to army ground commanders.
Air cavalry units previously operated the Bell OH-58 Kiowa scout helicopter until its retirement in 2015. They now field the AH-64 attack helicopter, paired with the Textron Systems RQ-7B Shadow reconnaissance UAV, which is in the process of being phased out.
Each of the squadrons set to be eliminated contains 24 Apaches, for a total of 264 AH-64s. It is unclear whether those aircraft will be retired or reassigned for use elsewhere under the ATI framework.
“Our army must transform now to a leaner, more lethal force by infusing technology, cutting obsolete systems, and reducing overhead to defeat any adversary on an ever-changing battlefield,” the memo from George and Driscoll states.
The army currently has 839 of the Boeing attack helicopters in service, according to fleets data from aviation analytics firm Cirium. More than 600 of those are the older model AH-64Ds, with the rest being the newer AH-64E.
Boeing began delivering the AH-64E in 2013, as the army began retiring the Kiowa scouts. Some units previously operating the D-model Apaches have been issued the newer E-model variants, which offer the ability to control UAVs while in flight.
The ATI outline from George and Driscoll makes no mention of the drone swarms Hegseth says will replace decommissioned helicopter formations. However, the army is in the process of developing numerous new uncrewed aerial platforms, with plans to field thousands of examples in the coming years.
Technologies to counter such swarms of small hostile drones will be reaching soldiers in the near future, with Hegseth directing counter-UAS weapons be fielded to the lowest level by 2026.
Notably, the army’s marquee aviation modernisation initiative is, for now, safe from cuts outlined under the ATI plan.
The next-generation Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft tiltrotor being developed for the army by Bell will continue moving forward, according to Geroge and Driscoll.
