New OH-58D Warrior Delivered | The JetAv Blog by Jack Schweibold.
Last month the Army increased its helicopter muscle by delivering the first totally rebuilt OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter to the 6th Cav Regiment at Corpus Christi. I never would have imagined its eventual role moving from “Observation” to “Attack” when I demonstrated new OH-58 engine electronics at Ft. Rucker thirty-five years ago. The Bell 206 Jet Ranger’s big brother has become a POWERHOUSE!
Today, the old Oh-58 is gutted at Bell where the cabin is refurbished with new wiring, controls and weapons systems, then moved to Corpus Christie where the Army installs new or rebuilt engines, transmissions, rotors and other components. The Army has no new Scout purchases scheduled for years; therefore these upgraded ships will be a real capability boost, recovering units damaged through battle and accidents in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Fifty ships or so are scheduled for overhaul, with Bell eventually building new cabins for the last twenty-five.
While these rebuilds are costly, it is good to see a way around “new aircraft” purchase restrictions placed on our fighting forces. It has long been practice to recover name tags of fallen comrades; now when a ship goes down our pilots must be told, “Make sure to chisel off the serial number plate, Supply Depot can build a replacement through spares for $10M!” Who thought that enterprising supply sergeants are only in TV MASH units! Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/06/07/4016505/army-unit-receives-first-of-bell.html#storylink=cpy