Industry and Technology

Air Center Helicopters Wins Two New Commercial Vertical Replenishment (VERTREP) Support Contracts in the Pacific

Press Release from Air Center Helicopters

Air Center Helicopters, Inc. (ACHI), the leading provider of contingency and expeditionary aviation support services for the U.S. Government, is extremely pleased to announce the award of two additional VERTREP contracts in support of U.S. Pacific Fleet (PACFLT) and Military Sealift Command (MSC). These new detachments will join ACHI’s current effort in the Pacific and the Middle East.

As a VERTREP program incumbent, ACHI looks forward to continuing our commitment to performance excellence for the U.S. Navy and MSC. From initial VERTREP contract inception in late 2018 to present day, ACHI has maintained unmatched operational readiness rates of 98% while successfully transporting more than 14.5M lbs. of cargo and over 11,100 external loads in support of underway replenishment operations for the Fleet.

ACHI has a unique VERTREP pioneering history. Air Center Helicopters, Inc. was the first to deploy the modern H225 Super Puma aboard U.S. Navy ships when it deployed PAC DET C embarked on the USNS Wally Schirra in February of 2019. Later that year, ACHI deployed the first heavy lift capable detachment aboard USNS Cesar Chavez on LANT DET A. Furthering this pioneering legacy, in March of 2021, Air Center Helicopters conducted the first-ever at-sea vertical replenishment of the Joint Strike Fighter F135 power module mass simulator during a COMPACFLT proof-ofconcept exercise. This exercise provided proof-of concept that Navy aircraft carriers will have the ability to receive critical parts to maintain the F-35C while underway. “This successful exercise confirmed the ability to maintain maritime operations in a new generation of jet fighter aircraft for the U.S. Navy," stated CAPT P. Scott Miller, Commanding Officer, USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70).

About Air Center Helicopters, Inc.

Headquartered in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex of Texas, ACHI is a U.S.-owned and operated small business concern under NAICS 481212. ACHI has performed multiple mission profiles for a diverse customer base in various expeditionary and contingency environments around the world since 1986. An FAA Parts 133, 135, 137, and 145 certified aviation service provider, ACHI brings over 35 years of experience in aviation support missions to the government and commercial customer including but not limited to: Personnel Recovery and Casualty Evacuation (PR/ CASEVAC), at-sea Vertical Replenishment (VERTREP), logistics, scientific research, tactical training, Search and Rescue (SAR), Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR) and utility services along with a full-service MRO maintenance facility.

ACHI is a Department of Defense Commercial Airlift Review Board (CARB) certified provider and was the first aviation firm to receive “Special Operations” certification from the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS).

The ACHI fleet of rotary and fixed wing aircraft includes the Airbus H225 Super Puma and AS350B3e A-Star, Bell 412EP and 206 helicopters as well as the Dassault 900EX and Lear 35A Corporate Jet fixed wing aircraft. Air Center Helicopters Inc. has operated across all seven oceans and all seven continents with mission specific, custom configured aircraft.

More News from Industry

Sustaining Distributed Maritime Operations The Role of the CMV-22B

By Robbin Laird

The U.S. Navy is working to shape its approach to distributed maritime operations. This is in response to the new age of warfighting generated by the rise of nuclear armed peer competitors. Distributed capabilities delivering integrated effects is a key effort which the U.S. Navy is pursuing full steam ahead.

At the same time, the Marine Corps is increasingly focused on how to integrate more effectively with the Navy which is under strategic redesign. The Marine Corp is highlighting how its basing capabilities from ship to shore, ashore to support at sea can provide a significant boost to enhance the Navy’s air-maritime capabilities.

It will take time to make this all work, and the Commandant’s Force Design 2030 certainly highlights this. But waiting to deliver these capabilities is not an option. How to accelerate DMO? Ramp up the buy of the CMV22B. It is certainly quicker than waiting for new ships, or a build-up of the Military Sealift Command. And as DMO is inclusive of mobile or expeditionary basing, the speed, range and flexibility of the Osprey clearly are mission enablers.

In the fluid battlespace where a distributed force operates, logistical support cannot readily be assumed. Logistics is a weapon system; if you do not have supplies delivered to the right platform at the right time during combat, the ability of that force to achieve its objectives is seriously compromised.

In effect, we are talking about the durability of the force, i.e., the ability of the force to operate long enough to prevail in a crisis situation. Logistics is a weapon system in such an effort. As my colleague, COL David Beaumont, ADF, a noted Australian logistician and head of the Army’s future command has put it to me, “Durability is also about your ability to survive initial combat shocks, replenish and respond, eventually to ensure continued high combat performance. Between two adversaries, it is the one that responds the quickest and replenishes the fastest that will gain the initiative. It is very possible we will have short warning times, so the ability to take shocks and to manage the counter punch effectively will be a key requirement for durability of the force in a crisis.”

If the Navy did not have the CMV-22B, they would have to invent it. Without it, the speed and range of closing the logistics gap would not be possible. But to get enough aircraft, you need a production line. And the Navy faces a short window to keep the line open and deliver the significant numbers of aircraft they need not just for large deck carrier support, but for cross-decking throughout the fleet, and working ship to shore and shore to ship which the Marines can deliver from mobile or expeditionary land bases.

The gap to close to ensure production is approaching. But potential conflict or even combat with peer competitors is also on a similar timeline. Losing the competition is not an option if we want to defend our way of life.