JHL and Jointness - the Army Responds

I've been taken to task for a comment on my recent blog post that the US Army-led Joint Heavy Lift isn't really joint. "The Navy, Marine Corp and Special Operations Command have all been actively involved," says Bruce Tenney, who leads the JHL effort at the Army's Applied Aviation Technology Directorate. "Just because the Air Force has not been as actively involved as it is now does not mean JHL has not been joint," he says. "If it was not joint, JHL would not look the way it does now."

Tenney and his counterpart Barth Shenk at the Air Force Research Laboratory tell me JHL and AJACS will continue as parallel efforts to mature technology for the Joint Future Theater Lift: JHL aimed at ensuring VTOL is a viable candidate and AJACS doing the same for super-STOL. And Tenney says the JHL team still believes a technology demonstrator is a necessary step to prove VTOL is a feasible option for JFTL.

 Bruce also takes me to task for the less-than-positive title of the offending blog post, which I won't add insult to injury by repeating. Here's what he says: "The JHL team is the best I have ever worked with in my 25 years in the government R&D business and they have been and continue to work with great dedication."

Tags: ar99, USArmy, JHL, USAF, AJACS, JFTL