Blackburn Leads Tennessee Delegation in Urging Army to Make Tennessee National Guard First in Nation to Field MV-75 Aircraft

Blackburn Leads Tennessee Delegation in Urging Army to Make Tennessee National Guard First in Nation to Field MV-75 Aircraft October 8, 2026 NASHVILLE, Tenn. – U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), and the entire Tennessee delegation sent a letter to Acting United States Secretary of the Army Adam Telle urging him to make the Tennessee Army National Guard the first in the nation to field the MV-75 Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft. The MV-75 Cheyenne II represents the next generation of Army assault aviation, providing increased speed, range, operational reach, and flexibility for distributed operations and large-scale, long-range air assault. Proximity to 101 st Airborne Division Would Help Power MV-75 Dominance Tennessee is uniquely positioned to partner with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, the Army’s first operational formation designated to field the MV-75. Tennessee’s 1-230th Assault Helicopter Battalion is a proven assault aviation unit supported by experienced aviators, crew members, maintainers, and flight operations personnel. 1-230th regularly integrates with the 101st providing a tested foundation for accelerated MV-75 integration. With the geographic proximity of these two formations, recurring cross-training and shared access to the Army’s emerging MV-75 instructors, simulation capabilities, training areas, maintenance expertise, tactics development, and operational lessons learned would be maximized. The proximity would also reduce travel and temporary-duty expenses, minimize lost training time, and allow limited National Guard training resources to be applied directly to readiness. Tennessee Is Investing in Aviation Infrastructure Designed to Support MV-75 Further, Tennessee is currently investing in aviation infrastructure designed and capable of supporting MV-75 requirements and has a newly opened National Guard Readiness Center located on Fort Campbell. Synchronizing these National Guard investments with the Active Component would support shared training, sustainment, maintenance, and simulation while avoiding unnecessary infrastructure and resource duplication. We believe that selecting Tennessee would establish an integrated COMPO 1 - COMPO 2 MV-75 ecosystem, with the partnership reducing transition risk and reducing transition cost, while accelerating operational cross talk and program feedback. We respectfully request that the Department of the Army and National Guard Bureau give Tennessee full consideration as the first Army National Guard organization to field the MV-75. Should you have any questions or require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact our staff. CO-SIGNERS U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), and U.S. Representatives Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), Matt Van Epps (R-Tenn.), Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), John Rose (R-Tenn.), Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.), Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), David Kustoff (R-Tenn.), and Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) joined Senator Blackburn in sending this letter. Click here to read the full letter. https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2026/10/blackburn-leads-tennessee-delegation-in-urging-army-to-make-tennessee-national-guard-first-in-nation-to-field-mv-75-aircraft