The US Army is asking for funds to add more aircraft (36 MH-47s and 27 MH-60s) to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. The MH-47s would be based in Germany and the MH-60s will be based in Qatar. The Army has operating bases for special operations helicopters in South Korea and Puerto Rico. The 160th is reducing the number of types of aircraft it operates while increasing the overall number. MH-47Es and MH-47Ds are to be upgraded to MH-47Gs while the MH-60Ks and MH-60Ls would be replaced by or upgraded to MH-60Ms. The current AH-6Js and MH-6Js would be upgraded to AMH-6Ms, but the Army wants to replace the H-6 Little Birds within a decade. The new MH-60Ms and MH-47Gs would use the same cockpit so that pilots could easily move between them.--Stephen V Cole