The MH-139A Grey Wolf left Eglin Air Force Base for the last time on June 27 signalling its transition to a combat-capable aircraft under Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC).
The MH-139 arrived at Eglin AFB, Florida in December 2019 and was officially named Grey Wolf shortly after. Initially, testing was limited as the aircraft was then owned by Boeing. The 413th Flight Test Squadron (FLTS) collaborated with AFGSC’s Detachment 7 to manage, fly, and crew the test missions alongside Boeing’s flight crew.
The testing phase gained momentum in August 2022 when the US Air Force took ownership of the aircraft. The accelerated testing period saw up to six Grey Wolf helicopters based at Duke Field, one of Eglin’s auxiliary fields. This ownership transition coincided with the arrival of Maj Jonathan Palka, a pilot that had just completed test pilot training at the US Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS), NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. Although new to Air Force developmental testing, Palka was not entirely unfamiliar with the aircraft, having piloted its civilian counterpart, the AW139, in simulator training and delivered one of the test aircraft to Duke Field. “(At USNTPS) you are always short on time and frequently fly aircraft you do…
