Following a competitive process, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded Leonardo with a US$177-million firm, fixed-price contract in January 2020 for the production and delivery of 32 TH-73A Thrasher helicopters. The contract included initial spares, support, dedicated equipment, and an aircrew and maintenance training service.
The aircraft are being built at Leonardo’s facility in Philadelphia, and are expected to replace the current fleet of venerable Bell TH-57B/C Sea Rangers, which will start being withdrawn from service in 2023 and will be completely out of service in 2025.
In late 2020, the initial contract was expanded with a further US$171-million follow-on contract exercising options for an additional 36 helicopters. There are four different production lots building a total of 130 TH-73As for delivery through to 2024. The airframe configuration will be the same across all lots. Additionally, 25 hook/hoist kits were purchased with Lot 1 but will be configurable on any of the airframes.
The first TH-73A was accepted by the U.S Navy in Philadelphia on June 10, 2021, and the first helicopter was delivered to Training Air Wing 5 at Naval Air Station (NAS) Whiting Field in Florida, on Aug. 6, 2021. There are now 49 TH-73A airframes at Whiting Field.
Vertical Valor’s visit to NAS Whiting Field came at a significant moment for all who have been involved in the program over the preceding five to seven years, as the first two students generated solely from the TH-73A course were awarded their “Wings of Gold” on May 12, 2023.
The TH-73A is a derivative of the commercial AW119Kx helicopter and is one of only two single-engine helicopters certified to meet current instrument flight rules (IFR) operating requirements — allowing the aircraft to be operated safely in low visibility and challenging weather conditions. (The other single-engine aircraft with an IFR kit is the Bell 407GXi.)
The Thrasher name designation relates to the Brown Thrasher, a small native U.S. bird known for its tenacity and low-level flying prowess.
Advanced helicopter training
The U.S. Navy’s new Advanced Helicopter Training System (AHTS) offers modern aircraft and simulator training to new rotary and tiltrotor pilots for the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, as well as some Allied nations. The TH-73A will be used to provide the core aircraft portion of AHTS.
AHTS improves pilot training through a combination of the new helicopter, new simulators, a modernized syllabus and a new contractor logistics support contract for Thrasher maintenance and flightline support.
Commander Annie Otten is the current commanding officer of the U.S. Navy’s Helicopter Training Squadron Eight (HT-8) “Eightballers,” the lead unit for the TH-73A at Whiting Field. Otten has a fleet background in Sikorsky SH-60Bs and previously served as a Bell TH-57 instructor with HT-18 before returning to take command of HT-8, navigating the squadron through the challenging TH-73A transition.
The HT-8 operate a combination of the TH-57 and TH-73A. Meanwhile, the HT-18 “Vigilant Eagles” and HT-28 “Hellions” both operate the TH-57B/C. These units transition students from the fixed-wing Beechcraft T-6B, taking them from their first helicopter flight through to their Wings of Gold.
The 38-week training syllabus starts with the foundations: helicopter aerodynamics and ground school using virtual reality and simulators. The newly designed TH-73A course involves a real cultural change in learning methodology. Students use iPads to access course content, and aviation-specific apps for flight planning, briefing and in-flight navigation.
Students then move on to flying the aircraft, initially learning how to hover and then how to maneuver the aircraft and undertake basic instrument scans. They then move on to radio instrument flying where they experience flying in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC).
Next is the mission phase, which includes landing in restricted areas, pinnacle landings on platforms, carrying external loads, and hoist training coordination. Finally, they learn formation flying and night vision goggle operations.
The HT squadrons average 2,645 student events equating to 5,600 flight hours per month, which, when combined with the fixed-wing T-6B activity in the North Field, makes it one of the busiest airfields in terms of movements in the U.S.
HT-8 lead squadron
The Thrasher program has spanned five to seven years and involved many people from many different branches of the services and industry.
HT-8 was selected to be the lead squadron in introducing the TH-73A. This work includes incorporating the student course syllabus for the Thrasher and converting TH-57 instructors to the new helicopter program.
The TH-73As are currently housed in a temporary hangar at NAS Whiting Field, while construction of a new helicopter maintenance hangar is being completed. Additionally, Leonardo has established a TH-73A maintenance support team at Peter Prince Airport in nearby Milton.
Working with the fleet introduction team (FIT) and the V2X program contractor for flightline operations and maintenance at Whiting, HT-8 has overseen the acceptance of all TH-73As currently on site, with deliveries of new aircraft currently averaging around one per week.
The new aircraft are currently only operated by HT-8 and by the Helicopter Instructor Training Unit (HITU) at Whiting.
Power behind the Thrasher
The TH-73A incorporates a modern avionics suite with a fully-integrated flight management system, automatic flight control system and independent digital cockpit displays in both pilot stations.
Otten believes the increased performance in power, speed, payload and endurance over the Sea Ranger, together with the advanced glass cockpit, will better prepare students as they transition to fleet replacement squadrons (FRS) for postgraduate training.
The TH-73A cockpit is very similar to the glass cockpit in the T-6B, which allows students to make a much more seamless transition from fixed- to rotary-wing aircraft as they can employ the same cockpit instrument scan. This ultimately lessens the complexity of student transition from fixed- to rotary-wing and saves training time.
The Thrasher has four rotor blades and a fully articulated rotor head, which is an arrangement much more akin to what they will experience in their fleet helicopters. This results in a smoother transition.
Future outlook
The biggest challenge for Otten and her team at HT-8 has been to choreograph both the TH-57 and the TH-73 syllabi simultaneously until the unit has been completely re-equipped with the new helicopters. Ensuring that the TH-57 element has had sufficiently qualified instructors to support the legacy helicopter operations has been critical.
Each of the three HT squadrons at Whiting have 15 selected reservists (SELRES) amongst their IP cadre. Overall, 20% of student production is accomplished by SELRES instructors. For HT-8, more than half of its SELRES IPs have converted to the new type.
Most of the SELRES instructors have significant experience not only from active duty but also in commercial operations of Leonardo helicopters — be it medevac or VIP flying. This provides the students and other IPs with a significant knowledge base to tap into as they all begin operating the new aircraft.
Otten is proud of the fact that the unit has been able to maintain overall student production throughout the transition. More recently, they have switched to taking only TH-73 students. HT-18 will be the next squadron to introduce the TH-73A, and HT-8 is already working with that unit to prepare them for the new aircraft.
From a personal perspective and having previously flown the TH-57, Otten’s impressions of the new helicopter are very positive.
“The glass cockpit is great,” Otten said. “The helicopter is fast, which means we can undertake a wider variety of maneuvres and get to training locations faster.”
Otten is confident that the quality of student graduates has been maintained throughout the transition and all evidence points to the fact that going forward, TH-73 students will head to their FRS postgraduate training much better equipped to deal with the challenges of operating their designated fleet rotor or tiltrotor aircraft.
She said overall, the progress on the TH-73A program has been impressive with the aircraft being delivered on schedule and with first impressions of its operating capabilities and reliability being very positive.
The introduction of a completely new aircraft type is demanding in any situation. In the training environment, where there is an insatiable demand for new pilots, executing the introduction to service without any interruption to the drumbeat of student output and quality is a true testament to the work invested over the past five years by the TH-73A program team.
Editor’s Note: This story was amended on Aug. 15 to include a reference to the Bell 407 GXi also being a single-engine aircraft with a kit that allows instrument flight rules operation. The article previously erroneously stated that the AW119Kx was the only single-engine IFR-certified aircraft in the U.S.