美国空军已订购四架MH-139A“灰狼”直升机，这是波音公司周四宣布的首批全速率生产型飞机，距离该军种宣布该机型已准备好执行核导弹安保任务仅数周。
The U.S. Air Force has ordered four more MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopters, the first under full-rate production, Boeing said Thursday just weeks after the service declared the aircraft ready for its nuclear missile security mission.
这一消息公布于波音公司繁忙的一周。周二，美国海军选择波音公司建造其F/A-XX第六代舰载战斗机，开发合同价值超过200亿美元。同一天，空军签署了一份价值23.8亿美元的订单，采购另外22架F-15EX“鹰II”战斗机。
The announcement comes during a busy week for Boeing. On Tuesday, the U.S. Navy selected the company to build its F/A-XX sixth-generation carrier-based fighter under a development contract worth more than $20 billion. The same day, the Air Force signed a $2.38 billion order for 22 more F-15EX Eagle II fighters.
波音公司一名发言人告诉《国防新闻》，价值约8500万美元的“灰狼”合同于9月25日授予，其中包括部分保障维护工作。该公司预计将在2028年或2029年交付这四架直升机。
The Grey Wolf contract, worth roughly $85 million and including some sustainment work, was awarded Sept. 25, a Boeing spokesperson told Defense News. The company expects to deliver the four helicopters in 2028 or 2029.
该订单使合同总数达到42架，其中27架已交付。早期直升机中有6架为测试机，其余来自此前订购的生产批次，早于本批次的首个全速率生产批次。
The order brings the total number under contract to 42, with 27 already delivered. Six of the earlier helicopters were test aircraft, and the rest came from production lots ordered before this first full-rate lot.
波音防务、太空与安全部门垂直起降项目副总裁兼总经理凯瑟琳·若利韦特在公司声明中表示：“这一里程碑验证了‘灰狼’的关键战备水平，并支持该军种在全国战略导弹基地部署以保护关键国家资产的计划。”
“This milestone validates key readiness levels for Grey Wolf and supports the service’s fielding plans to secure vital national assets across the country’s strategic missile fields,” Kathleen Jolivette, vice president and general manager of Vertical Lift Programs at Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said in the company release.
空军全球打击司令部于8月31日宣布，“灰狼”于8月10日达到初始作战能力（IOC），这意味着首批机组人员和直升机已获准执行实际任务。
Air Force Global Strike Command announced Aug. 31 that the Grey Wolf reached initial operational capability or IOC, Aug. 10, meaning the first crews and helicopters are cleared to fly real-world missions.
初始作战能力的宣布使“灰狼”能够开始从老化的UH-1N“休伊”直升机手中接管洲际弹道导弹的安保任务，并将在蒙大拿州马尔姆斯特罗姆空军基地、怀俄明州F.E.沃伦空军基地和北达科他州迈诺特空军基地取代后者。MH-139A是莱奥纳多公司商用AW139的军用版本。
The IOC declaration allows the Grey Wolf to begin taking over intercontinental ballistic missile security from the aging UH-1N Huey, which it will replace at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana; F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming; and Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota.
全球打击司令部表示，其速度比“休伊”快近50%，载员量是后者的两倍，并配备了改进的防御系统。
The MH-139A is a militarized version of Leonardo’s commercial AW139.
来自第40直升机中队的两架直升机于1月8日在马姆斯特罗姆空军基地执行了“灰狼”的首次作战任务。在长达六小时的任务中，它们为往返于基地以东100多英里外一个发射设施的导弹维修车和装甲安全车辆提供了护航，且中途无需加油。
Global Strike Command says it is nearly 50% faster than the Huey, carries twice as many troops and has improved defensive systems. Two helicopters from the 40th Helicopter Squadron flew the Grey Wolf’s first operational mission Jan. 8 at Malmstrom.
“半个多世纪以来，“休伊”UH-1N直升机一直是保障我们洲际弹道导弹安全的关键要素，我们对多年来驾驶和维护它的机组人员深表感激，”空军全球打击司令部司令S·L·戴维斯将军表示。“确保这些导弹的安全需要我们全力以赴，而MH-139将显著提升我们的能力。”初始作战能力（IOC）的达成比原计划推迟了多年。据《军事时报》1月报道，空军于2018年9月选择波音公司获得价值24亿美元的“休伊”替代直升机合同，官员们曾预计在2021年达成这一里程碑。
During the six-hour mission, they escorted missile maintenance and armored security vehicles to and from a launch facility more than 100 miles east of the base without refueling. “For more than half a century, the UH-1N Huey has been a key element of our Intercontinental Ballistic Missile security, and we owe a debt of gratitude to the crews who flew and maintained it over all these years,” said Gen. S.L. Davis, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command. “Securing these missiles demands our best efforts and the MH-139 will significantly improve our capabilities.”
测试延误、联邦航空管理局（FAA）认证受挫以及整合问题拉长了时间表。该项目多年来一直在缩减。
IOC comes years late. The Air Force picked Boeing for the $2.4 billion Huey replacement contract in September 2018, and officials expected to reach the milestone in 2021.
空军曾计划采购多达84架“灰狼”，其中一些旨在华盛顿特区周边运送官员。为了满足2023年债务上限协议中的支出上限，空军在其2025财年预算中取消了这一贵宾（VIP）运送任务，并将采购量削减至42架。
Testing delays, FAA certification setbacks and integration problems stretched the timeline, Military Times reported in January. The program has shrunk over the years.
由于分摊项目成本的直升机减少，单机成本超过了《纳恩-麦卡迪法案》规定的临界阈值。该法案迫使五角大楼为单机成本过高的项目进行辩护或予以取消。根据2024年8月下旬发布的《选择性采购报告》，五角大楼随后将采购量增加到至少56架，使价格回落至临界阈值以下。
The Air Force once planned to buy as many as 84 Grey Wolves with some intended to shuttle officials around Washington. To meet spending caps in the 2023 debt-ceiling deal, the Air Force dropped that VIP mission in its fiscal 2025 budget and cut the buy to 42. With fewer helicopters sharing the program’s costs, the unit cost rose past the critical threshold under the Nunn-McCurdy law, which forces the Pentagon to justify or cancel programs whose unit costs climb too high.
在2027财年，空军要求再采购四架。众议院通过的国防政策法案以及参议院军事委员会的版本允许采购八架——是请求数量的两倍，但这两项法案均尚未成为法律。实际拨款的众议院拨款委员会支出法案仅涵盖四架。
The Pentagon later raised the buy to at least 56, bringing the price back under the critical threshold, according to a Selected Acquisition Report released in late August 2024. For fiscal 2027, the Air Force asked for four more The House-passed defense policy bill and the Senate Armed Services Committee’s version would allow eight double the request, but neither has become law. The House appropriators’ spending bill, which actually provides the money, covers only four.
HH-60W战斗救援直升机将取代“灰狼”直升机执行要员运输任务，以替代空军认为在速度、航程和升力方面不足、无法提供具有成本效益支持的“休伊”直升机。
HH-60W combat rescue helicopters will take over the VIP mission instead of Grey Wolves, replacing Hueys that the Air Force says lack the speed, range and lift to provide cost-effective support.