page_title: Bell OH-58 Kiowa
section_title: OH-58F Block II
hierarchical_section_title: Bell OH-58 Kiowa / Variants / OH-58F Block II
caption_attribution_description: English: Bell OH-58 Kiowa
context_page_description: The Bell OH-58 Kiowa is a family of single-engine, single-rotor, military helicopters used for observation, utility, and direct fire support. Bell Helicopter manufactured the OH-58 for the United States Army based on its Model 206A JetRanger helicopter. The OH-58 was in continuous U.S. Army service from 1969 to 2017, when it was replaced in these roles by the Boeing AH-64 Apache and Eurocopter UH-72 Lakota.
  The latest model, the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, is primarily operated in an armed reconnaissance role in support of ground troops. The OH-58 has been exported to Austria, Canada, Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, and Greece. It has also been produced under license in Australia.
context_section_description: On April 14, 2011, Bell performed the successful first flight of their OH-58F Block II variant. The Block II was Bell's entry in the Armed Aerial Scout program. It built on the improvements of the F-model, and added features including the Honeywell HTS900 turboshaft engine, the transmission and main rotors of the Bell 407, and the tail and tail rotor of the Bell 427. Bell started voluntary flight demonstrations in October 2012, and the Army had to decide by December if it would even proceed with the AAS program. Bell hoped for the Army to go with their service life extension models instead of the program. The F-model Kiowa is an "obsolescence upgrade", while the Block II was seen as the performance upgrade. This gave the Army flexibility in times of shrinking budgets, as they had the option of upgrading the Kiowa to the F-model and then continuing to the Block II later when there were sufficient funds. Shortly before December 2012, the Army decided they would recommend proceeding with the AAS program. The Army ended the AAS program in late 2013. With the onset of sequestration budget cuts in early 2013, it was decided that the $16 billion cost of buying new armed scout helicopters was too expensive.
caption: OH-58X Kiowa, a modified OH-58D prototype. Note nose, pitch link cover and engine cowl area.
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