F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- The 582nd Helicopter Group completed Initial Operational Test & Evaluation for the MH-139A Grey Wolf on June 27, marking a major milestone in Twentieth Air Force’s efforts to modernize its helicopter fleet in support of nuclear security operations.
The completion of IOT&E was confirmed during a Joint Reliability and Maintainability Evaluation Team meeting, concluding a rigorous six-month evaluation period that began in January 2025. The test phase, conducted alongside multiple mission partners, demonstrated the Grey Wolf’s ability to meet operational requirements across a wide range of mission sets.
Throughout the evaluation, six MH-139 aircraft were utilized to assess the helicopter’s performance in real-world operational conditions. Testing included aerial gunnery operations at Gowen Field, emergency security response missions at each missile wing and full-scale convoy escort operations in support of Twentieth Air Force’s annual Nuclear Convoy Course at Camp Guernsey.
“This milestone reflects the dedication and professionalism of our aircrews, maintainers and mission partners,” said Col. Bryant Bevan, 582 HG commander. “The MH-139 brings increased speed, range, and survivability to our mission set and enhances our ability to protect and support the ICBM enterprise.”
The MH-139A Grey Wolf replaces the aging UH-1N Huey, offering significant improvements in capability and performance. With a significant increase in speed, range and payload capacity along with enhanced defensive systems, the Grey Wolf is built to support missile field security missions across vast and austere terrain.
“The MH-139 represents a complete paradigm shift within our community and for the mission, its highly redundant system design and automation make for a powerful, safe and much easier to manage aircraft.”” said Lt. Col. Jeremy McPherson, MH-139 program integration officer. “This allows crew to spend more time solving complex mission sets and tactical problems instead of focusing most of their effort keeping the spinning side up.”
McPherson has six years of experience flying Developmental Test and IOT&E mission. He states that the speed of action the MH-139 provides is already paying off, significantly reducing the amount of time operations would have taken with the UH-1N.
The 40th Helicopter Squadron has already begun utilizing the MH-139 to support weekend stand-by alert coverage and will expand mission use in the fall, operating both the MH-139 and UH-1N during the transition.