So Long, Pave Hawk: Air Force’s HH-60G Combat Rescue Helicopter Completes Final Flight

Overview

The Air Force has completed retirement of the HH-60G Pave Hawk combat rescue helicopter fleet, with the final aircraft retired in September 2026 as part of the FY2026 budget. The platform is being fully replaced by the HH-60W Jolly Green II, and the FY2027 budget requests over $200 million for continued procurement. This fleet transition signals a sustained modernization and sustainment opportunity across combat search and rescue (CSAR), maintenance, training systems, and logistics support. Contractors that support Air Force CSAR operations, aircraft maintenance and repair, training and simulation, and parts supply should assess capability alignment and readiness to compete for follow-on work. Action is needed now to capture follow-on procurement, update cybersecurity and export-control postures named in the event tags, and position proposals and teaming for upcoming solicitations under relevant Air Force and DOD acquisition channels.

Immediate Actions (This Week)

• [ ] Monitor for the official solicitation(s) and contract notices related to HH-60W sustainment, procurement, and training systems; sign up for alerts for the relevant agencies and contract vehicles.
• [ ] Map your current capabilities to HH-60W sustainment, maintenance, training, and logistics requirements; identify gaps in hardware, software, facilities, and personnel that would affect responsiveness.
• [ ] Conduct a rapid compliance triage against named compliance surfaces (ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations), NIST 800-171 (NIST Special Publication 800-171), CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification), DFARS (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement) 252.204-7012, FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation) Part 25) to flag immediate remediation or documentation needs; notify contracts and legal teams.

Short-Term Actions (30 Days)

• [ ] Update capture plan and proposal boilerplate (win themes, past performance entries, staffing plans) to reflect HH-60W Jolly Green II sustainment and CSAR mission requirements.
• [ ] Run a supplier and supply-chain readiness assessment focused on parts continuity and Buy American/FAR Part 25 sourcing considerations; identify critical vendors and export-control exposure (ITAR).

Long-Term Actions (90+ Days)

• [ ] Execute remediation projects for any cybersecurity or CUI (Controlled Unclassified Information) handling gaps identified (NIST 800-171/CMMC/DFARS 252.204-7012) and document evidence for future proposals and audits.
• [ ] Formalize teaming agreements and position for relevant contract vehicles that typically support Air Force aviation sustainment and innovation programs; build demos or training-system prototypes supporting HH-60W mission needs.

Compliance Checklist

• [ ] ITAR — confirm registration and review export-license requirements for any controlled components or technical data.
• [ ] NIST SP 800-171 (NIST Special Publication 800-171) — perform or update a gap assessment and remediation plan for Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) handling.
• [ ] CMMC — perform a readiness assessment and document progress toward required maturity/capability levels (as applicable to future solicitations).
• [ ] DFARS 252.204-7012 — verify implementation of required safeguarding and incident reporting processes for covered defense information.
• [ ] FAR Part 25 (Buy American Act) — evaluate domestic source compliance for applicable components and assemblies.

Resources

• DFARS 252.204-7012 — https://www.acquisition.gov/dfars/252.204-7012
• NIST SP 800-171 (Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information) — https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-171/rev-2/final
• CMMC (DoD (Department of Defense)) guidance — https://www.acq.osd.mil/cmmc/
• ITAR (State Dept. PM/DDTC) — https://www.pmddtc.state.gov/regulations_laws/itar.html
• FAR Part 25 (Buy American Act) — https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-25
• Department of Defense — https://www.defense.gov/
• Department of the Air Force — https://www.af.mil/
• Air Combat Command — https://www.acc.af.mil/
• Air Force Materiel Command — https://www.afmc.af.mil/

Also review related Cabrillo guides:

• Winning Federal Contracts Guide (/insights/winning-federal-contracts)
• CMMC Compliance Guide (/insights/cmmc-compliance-guide)
• CUI-Safe CRM Guide (/insights/cui-safe-crm-guide)

How Cabrillo Club Automates This

• Cabrillo Signals War Room — Already detected this event and delivered this briefing within minutes. War Room continuously monitors regulatory changes, contract vehicle updates, budget actions, and policy shifts across federal sources so you never miss when an Air Force retirement, replacement, or budget request affects your market. For this event War Room captures the HH-60G retirement and HH-60W procurement signal so your capture teams get immediate situational context.
• Cabrillo Signals Match Engine — When budget shifts and platform transitions change opportunity relevance, the Match Engine automatically rescoring your opportunity pipeline. It updates match scores, keyword relevance, and agency alignment in real time so opportunities tied to HH-60W sustainment, CSAR training, and Air Force aviation logistics surface higher in your pipeline.
• Cabrillo Signals Intelligence Hub — The Intelligence Hub tracks affected agencies, NAICS groupings, and contract vehicles. Configure saved searches and alerts for the Department of the Air Force, Air Combat Command, Air Force Materiel Command, and listed contract vehicles (for example GSA (General Services Administration) Federal Supply Schedule, AFWERX, Air Force Contract Augmentation Program) so you receive notifications when follow-on solicitations or task orders matching this event are posted.
• Proposal Studio (Proposal OS) — Proposal Studio generates compliance matrices, pulls relevant past performance examples for HH-60-series sustainment and training, and produces first-draft technical approaches using your historical data. It also maintains your win-theme library and factors this event into the bid/no-bid decision engine so capture decisions reflect the HH-60G retirement and HH-60W procurement posture.
• Proposal Studio Workflow Tracker — The Workflow Tracker enforces a 9-gate capture process from opportunity identification through post-submission. For this event it will automatically route compliance reviews (ITAR, NIST 800-171, DFARS 252.204-7012, FAR Part 25) to contracts and legal, track supplier certifications and export-license status, and assemble audit-ready documentation packages for proposal submission.

Explore these features in your Cabrillo Club workspace to convert this fleet modernization signal into prioritized opportunities and compliant, audit-ready proposals.

---