The US Army has awarded Bell a contract to upgrade up to 18 OH-58A Kiowas to the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed scout standard under a program dubbed ‘A2D’.
The announcement, which comes just days after the Army said it would refurbish a large proportion of its OH-58D fleet to a new OH-58F standard, will see the OH-58As replace combat losses suffered by the OH-58D in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“The OH-58D Kiowa Warrior is a significant work horse for our combat operations fleet,” said Col Robert Grigsby, the US Army’s Armed Scout Helicopter project manager. “This conversion will ensure the Kiowa Warrior continues to be a combat multiplier on the joint and combined battlefield across the full spectrum of military operations.”
