MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – The US Air Force is looking to replace the Bell UH-1 Iroquois (Huey) military helicopter, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said.
"Right now the Air Force is looking at all options as we go forward to meet the need," Stefanek said as quoted by The Washington Post on Thursday.
The United States first used the UH-1 Huey helicopters in combat in the 1960s, in the Vietnam War. The US Air Force has been mulling a replacement for the helicopter since the early 1990s, according to The Washington Post.
The US Air Force currently uses about 60 Huey helicopters for a number of missions, including search and rescue ones. The Marine Corps uses a more modernized version of the UH-1 and has no plans to replace it, according to The Washington Post.
The newspaper said on Thursday that some critics say that the Black Hawk is not a suitable replacement for Hueys and there are less costly designs to meet the needs of the US Air Force.
