Aircraft
MD Helicopters Enters Armed Scout Contest with MD 540F
MD Helicopters CEO Lynn Tilton introduces the new MD 540F armed scout April 3 during the AAAA conference in Nashville. (Photo: Bill Carey)
MD Helicopters CEO Lynn Tilton introduces the new MD 540F armed scout April 3 during the AAAA conference in Nashville. (Photo: Bill Carey)

The field of companies offering armed scout helicopters to the U.S. Army and other militaries has grown with the addition of MD Helicopters, which is proposing the MD 540F, an upgrade of its MD 530F light helicopter, equipped with a weapons management system from Israel’s Elbit Systems. The offering is based on the same airframe MD Helicopters supplies to Boeing for the AH-6i, which is also a competitor for the Army’s armed aerial scout (AAS) program.