Navy Orders Fourth Lot of TH-73A Thrasher Training Helicopters

ARLINGTON, Va.—The U.S. Navy has exercised a contract option to order a fourth lot of Leonardo TH-73A Thrasher training helicopters.

Leonardo said in a Dec. 24 release that it was awarded a $110 million firm, fixed-price contract modification through AgustaWestland Philadelphia Corp. for 26 TH-73As. The option will bring the total number of TH-73As ordered to 130, the Navy’s program of record requirement.

The Navy previously ordered three lots of Thrashers: 32 for $176 million in January 2020; 36 for $171 million in November 2020; and 36 for $159.4 million in December 2021. The first order included “spares, support, dedicated equipment and specific pilot/maintenance training services,” Leonardo said.

The TH-73As are replacing the Navy’s three-decade-old TH-57B/C Sea Ranger training helicopters in Training Air Wing Five at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Florida. The helicopters are used to train rotary-wing pilots for the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. The Thrasher will enable the services to meet advanced rotary wing and intermediate tilt-rotor training requirements.

The TH-73A will develop pilot training and skills by using current cockpit technologies and a modernized training curriculum “that reflect the capabilities in the current Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard inventory,” the Navy said. “Using a skills-based approach to training with just-in-time methodology, incorporating modern technology, the TH-73A will ensure rotary wing aviators are produced at a higher quality, more efficiently, ready to meet the challenges faced in the fleet.”

The first twelve rotary wing students began training on the TH-73A in September 2022. The first of those students completed an inaugural solo flight in November 2022.

The helicopters will be built in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with an expected work completion date of December 2024.