WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force has started processes toward a high-priority program to replace HH-60G Pave Hawk aircraft with a new combat rescue helicopter.
A Request for Proposal for the new aircraft was issued this week by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition on the Federal Business Opportunities website.
The hover performance, combat radius, payload and cabin space are priorities for a replacement aircraft, it said, as well as affordability.
The primary mission of the CRH helicopter is the recovery of personnel from hostile or denied territory. It will also be used to conduct humanitarian missions, civil search and rescue operations and casualty and medical evacuations.
The Air Force plans to acquire 112 new CRH aircraft.
The Air Force said officials from Air Combat Command, the Department of the Air Force and Office of the Secretary of Defense conducted an acquisition review to ensure the source-selection process is executable as written.
