Let’s talk very briefly about NTACS

I’ve had some people ask me about NTACS recently, as a recent news article put it into some spotlight. Please understand, NTACS is not a project. It is an initiative, primarily designed to study potential future options for tactical aviation in CAF.

As such there are no requirements or exact plans for what will be procured, only areas that CAF is looking to engage in to figure out what is available and what is coming to the market.

Of course, Valor remains a major want for CAF. A high-speed, long-range tiltrotor is something that is of great interest, especially in the Arctic. There has been talks of an all Valor fleet for utility purposes, and while that may come to fruition, it isn’t the current plans.

You can understand why, Valor is almost as perfect of an aircraft as one could want, given our vast distances and the lack of infrastructure. Valor is faster, has a longer range and similar capabilities to the current Twotter fleet, while being much more modular and being able to operate almost anywhere.

It makes it no surprise that the current NTACS study even puts it in its own medium-life category, one of three being discussed for the project as of now.

The other two being looked at are a Utility helicopter, to replace a bulk of the Griffin fleet, and an Armed Reconnaissance helicopter. This is NOT an attack helicopter, but an evolution of the old Kiowa, god bless them.

We don’t know what exactly is being discussed, as NTACS is still in the very early stages of studying, with another round of consultations to take place this summer.

It’s also possible that the Medium-Lift and Utility categories are merged and, likely, we take the risk of a Valor fleet. Our little guy is safe though, hurray (for now)

For the armed reconnaissance category, expect to see something along the lines of the H145M, a helicopter I know has a lot of love. In fact, expect a hard Airbus push here.

This also isn’t the only study being done. We also have the Next-Generation Rotorcraft Capability, a NATO led project that aims to support an alliance-wide medium-sized helicopter to replace a number of aging fleets in the mid-2030s.

Airbus, Lockheed, and Leonardo/Bell have taken the initial design contracts early last year, and will now work to develop concepts for this future capability. we are an active member of this study.

So there is work being done, and is also why ONSF has such a large amount of money allocated to future tactical capabilities. It isn’t just about replacing the Griffins, it’s about building our future tactical aviation capabilities beyond what we currently have.