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CSAR-X decision delay spurs Pave Hawk upgrades

The Air Force’s aging fleet of HH-60 Pave Hawk search-and-rescue helicopters will get a $99 million upgrade to keep them flying until their replacement, the CSAR-X, is operational.

The funds were provided in the 2008 defense appropriations bill passed by Congress on Friday.

In a report accompanying the bill, lawmakers said the upgrades were necessary because of delays in the $15 billion CSAR-X program.

“The CSAR-X program is facing delays,” the report says. “The HH-60 must be upgraded to safely and effectively perform the mission until the CSAR-X is operational.”

The report said the HH-60 fleet will have to perform the search-and-rescue mission for “many years” longer than planned.

The CSAR-X program has been on hold since last November, when the Government Accountability Office upheld a protest to the Air Force’s selection of the Boeing CH-47 as the winner. The Air Force is allowing Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky Aircraft to submit revised bids and is expected to announce a decision by summer 2008.

The bill also directs the Air Force to report to Congress every six months on the progress of upgrades to the Pave Hawks.