Drift

H-1 Upgrades (UH-1Y / AH-1Z)

H-1 · Navy · Bell

+232% $3.6B (1996) → $11.9B (2010)
H-1 Upgrades (UH-1Y / AH-1Z): cost trajectory from $3.6B in 1996 to $11.9B in 2010, +232% growth. Explore H-1 interactively → Download 1-page brief (PDF)
Baseline
$3.6B (1996)
Current estimate
$11.9B (2010)
Cost growth
+232%
Units
284 → 353
Quantity change
+24%
Unit-cost change
+167%
IOC
— → 2008 (UH-1Y) / 2011 (AH-1Z)
Schedule slip
—
Cost basis
BY
Confidence
high · reconciled
Rebuilding Cobras and Hueys into Zulus and Yankees cost 3.3× the 1996 estimate. The buy did grow — 284 → 353 aircraft after a 2010 shift toward utility birds — but the cost had already MORE THAN DOUBLED by 2007 at the original quantity. USMC’s marquee rotorcraft recapitalization, among GAO’s ten largest cost growers.

Source: GAO-11-233SP, App. III Table 5 pp.169-171 — constant FY2011 $M: first full estimate 10/1996 $3,572M vs current $11,866.5M (+232.2%); H-1 assessment p.141 (quantities 4 R&D + 349 procurement; 2010 mix change). Baseline quantity 284 per GAO-08-467SP p.95, which shows +139.7% at FLAT quantity by 09/2007. GAO-19-336SP Table 20: +233.4% (FY19$).

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Drift — an independent project by Aous Abdo · Analytica DSS, built from public GAO, CRS and DoD sources. Cost growth has many causes; a larger number is not by itself evidence of mismanagement. How this is built · Explore the data →