Bell OH-58 Kiowa Military Helicopter

The age of the helicopters and the loss of airframes resulted in the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter program to procure a new aircraft, the Bell ARH-70, which was later cancelled in 2008 due to cost overruns. The current replacement effort for the OH-58 is the Armed Aerial Scout program. Due to uncertainty in the AAS program and fiscal restraints, planned retirement of the OH-58F Kiowa has been extended from 2025 to 2036. The Kiowa's role as a scout aircraft is being supplemented by tactical unmanned aerial vehicles. UAVs have acted in cooperation with the OH-58 to provide reconnaissance with less risk to crews compared to the helicopter operating alone. The OH-58F has to ability to control UAVs directly to safely perform scout missions. The OH-58 Kiowa will ultimately be replaced by the light version of the Future Vertical Lift aircraft in the 2030s.
Variants