https://www.airandspaceforces.com/mh-139-critical-cost-breach/
"MH-139 Suffers ‘Critical’ Cost Breach; Sentinel ‘Halfway’ Through Its Review"
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April 30, 2024 | By Greg Hadley
While the Pentagon is halfway through its review of the Air Force’s new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program in the wake of “critical” cost and schedule overruns, the service has declared a similar issue for the helicopters meant to provide security and transport across those ICBM fields.
The Air Force recently notified Congress of a “critical” Nunn-McCurdy breach on the MH-139 Grey Wolf program, a spokesperson confirmed to Air & Space Forces Magazine. The Nunn-McCurdy Act requires the Pentagon to inform lawmakers if a program incurs a cost or schedule overrun of more than 15 percent.
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While the Sentinel breach was related to ballooning costs and years of delays, the MH-139 breach was caused by the Air Force’s decision in its 2025 budget request to slash the projected fleet from 80 to 42 aircraft—which caused the price per aircraft to rise significantly. Overall procurement costs, however, dropped $1.1 billion.
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Grey Wolf helicopter cuts lead to cost overrun breach
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By Stephen Losey Apr 30
House Appropriations subcommittee on defense chairman Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., said during a budget hearing Tuesday the critical Nunn-McCurdy breach of the MH-139A — following a similar breach earlier this year involving the nation’s next intercontinental ballistic missile, the LGM-35A Sentinel — is concerning.
“We also need assurance that your bet on modernization over sustainment will yield success,” Calvert said. “And unfortunately, the track record is not encouraging so far. This follows the Sentinel’s Nunn-McCurdy breach. We need to understand the implications of both of these breach reviews for fiscal year 2025 and beyond.”
A Nunn-McCurdy breach could lead to a program getting cancelled unless the Pentagon certifies to Congress that it is essential to national security, there are no cheaper alternatives that can do the job, the new cost estimates have been deemed reasonable, it is a higher priority than other programs that could get cut to pay for it and the management structure in place will be able to control additional cost growth.
