Availability and Use of Rotary-Wing Aircraft in the Department of Defense
Report
Of the rotary-wing aircraft operated by the Army, the Department of the Navy (DoN), and the Air Force, the Army’s are the most numerous and have had the greatest availability rates. But DoN’s aircraft have flown the most hours per aircraft.
In this report, the Congressional Budget Office analyzes patterns in the availability and use of rotary-wing aircraft by three military departments within the Department of Defense (DoD): the Army, the Department of the Navy (DoN, which includes the Marine Corps), and the Air Force. A fleet’s availability rate is the percentage of aircraft that are possessed by operational squadrons (and not receiving maintenance in a depot) and available to be flown.
Fleet Sizes. As of September 2023, DoD had about 5,400 rotary-wing aircraft. The Army had about 3,700; DoN had about 1,400; and the Air Force had about 300. Almost half of those rotary-wing aircraft were versions of H-60 transport helicopters.
Availability and Use Among the Services. In recent years, availability rates of the Army’s rotary-wing aircraft have been greater than availability rates of the Air Force’s and DoN’s aircraft. But DoN has flown its rotary-wing aircraft more hours per aircraft than the Air Force or Army has.
Age, Availability, and Use of Aircraft. DoN replaced much of its rotary-wing fleet in the first half of the 2010s. The average age of the Army’s rotary-wing aircraft (around 16 years) has remained relatively constant since 2000. The Air Force’s rotary-wing aircraft appear to be older, on average, than those operated by the other services. But that is because when the Air Force rebuilds its helicopters, it does not renumber them like the other services do.
DoN’s H-60s show a marked decline in availability rates in the first five years of operation—more so than the other services’ H-60s. Similarly, although the availability and use of aircraft typically diminish with age, the decrease in availability and use of DoN’s V-22 tiltrotor aircraft is nonetheless noteworthy.
