Airmen at Yokota Air Base in Japan took their UH-1N Hueys for their final flights this past week. After more than four decades of flying that model, the Air Force’s 374th Airlift Wing is retiring the aging helicopters.
On Saturday, the 459th Airlift Squadron flew the helicopter over Tokyo one last time, in what the Air Force calls a “fini flight.” The helicopters will officially phase out of service at the base in September, after 45 years, but the last flight is complete. In a message posted to the base’s social media pages, the 374th Airlift Wing called the UH-1Ns a “symbol of reliability, resilience, and unwavering support to the mission.
“To all who flew and maintained Yokota’s UH-1N fleet — thank you,” the message continued.
The 459th Airlift Squadron, as part of the 374th Airlift Wing, is the sole UH-1N squadron in Japan and the Indo-Pacific theater. For years they provided several essential services, including ferrying people to hospitals via airlift and carrying out search and rescue operations. The helicopters were also regularly used to transport VIPS around Tokyo.
The Air Force had long acknowledged the age of the helicopters — one entry from 2014 on Yokota Air Base’s website describes them as “old, but reliable” — and in recent years have planned to replace the Hueys. The helicopter, developed by Bell Helicopter, was widely used during the Vietnam War. They first arrived at Yokota in 1971, according to the Air Force base. The UH-1N Huey model became a permanent fixture at the base in 1980, according to the 374th Airlift Wing, ferrying people around Tokyo for 45 years.
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The Air Force planned to replace its Huey fleet with the MH-139 Grey Wolf The newer helicopter , made by Boeing, is described by Air Force Global Strike Command as having “enhanced speed, payload capacity and endurance” compared to the UH-1N Huey, “far surpassing” the Vietnam-era helicopter. Plans had called for sending several to Yokota Air Base, but 2024 budget documents showed the Air Force was slashing the number of MH-139s it was buying, and the Japanese base was no longer set to receive them.
Alongside the UH-1N Hueys, the 459th Airlift Squadron also operates three of the Air Force’s four C-12J Huron planes. Those continue to be used as the helicopters leave service. Task & Purpose reached out to the wing for information about what would replace the UH-1Ns but as of press time had not heard back.
