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The US Navy MH-60S Armed Helicopter Weapons System (AHWS) was rolled out in December during a ceremony at Patuxent River, Maryland. The risk reduction test aircraft represents the third block of MH-60S spiral developments. The multi-mission Sikorsky MH-60S will replace the HH-60H Seahawk in the Strike Recovery and Special Warfare Support roles. The AHWS also equips the new aircraft for maritime interdiction and surface warfare missions. Sikorsky will install the first two AHWS mission kits for testing until the summer of 2006. Initial Operational Capability is scheduled for the fall of 2006. One hundred twenty-six armed helicopter systems will be provided to the fleet.

The AHWS includes up to eight Hellfire missiles on external "wings" and the Raytheon AN/AAS-44C Forward Looking InfraRed (FLIR) system with laser designator. The mission kit enables the crew to fire laser-sighted M240 7.62 mm machine guns from the port and starboard cabin windows and laser-sighted GAU-21 0.50 caliber guns from the port and starboard cabin doors. Both weapons are made by Fabrique Nationale Herstal (FN Herstal) in Belgium. Floor armor is provided by Ballistic Protective Systems.

The MH-60S AHWS also incorporates the Navy MH-60R integrated self defense suite, which consists of the APR-39(A)V2 radar warning receiver, AAR-47V2 mission warning receiver, ALQ-144(V)6 infrared jammer, and ALE-47 countermeasures dispenser. The MH-60S AHWS mission computer is identical to that of the MH-60R to reduce integration time and program costs. The mission computer and software provided by Lockheed Martin System Integration tie the AHWS elements together.

Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Two One (HX-21) Patuxent River, Md., will perform captive carriage and jettison testing for the Hellfire missiles and will evaluate a commercial-off-the-shelf digital map system and a digital video recorder, both developed by Vertical-Flight, Systems, Test, Analysis and Research.

The US Army has decided against additional funding for the joint DARPA-Army Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) effort. The UCAR program aimed at an autonomous armed reconnaissance system able to find dismounted, camouflaged combatants hidden in ground clutter. The production system was expected in service around 2012. With DARPA unable to continue the program alone, the four-phase program ends before its Phase III flight demonstrations. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency was expected to choose one of two UCAR contractor teams to continue with Phase III in early 2005.

DARPA is officially pleased with UCAR progress to date. By the end of Phase II preliminary design reviews, the agency believed the program had demonstrated that its desired objective capabilities are within the grasp of the rotorcraft industry. DARPA also believes the UCAR government/industry team developed an effective partnership, and that it demonstrated an innovative system development process with promise for future acquisition programs.

Don Woodbury, UCAR program manager said, "The Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman teams should be commended for the outstanding progress that has been made in the UCAR program. Both teams delivered results that exceeded our expectations." The Lockheed Martin UCAR team includes four of the company's business units plus Bell Helicopter; Raytheon; Draper Laboratory; Harris Corporation; Whitney, Bradley and Brown; and DRS. Northrop Grumman teamed with Kaman, Sikorsky, ASTA, BAE Systems, and L3 Communications.

Northrop Grumman Corporation demonstrated key refinements to its UCAR hardware and mission management software designs in December. DARPA/Army representatives inserted unscripted scenario and threat changes in a laboratory simulation, and the software responded effectively to the real-time changes. The hardware review covered UCAR air vehicle components, including an intermeshing rotor system.

Both teams had based their UCAR concepts on the LHTEC T800 turboshaft developed for the Comanche, and the cancellation leaves the engine with only limited export opportunities.

The Bell/Agusta AB139 received US FAA Certification on December 20, 2004. The medium-weight helicopter gained initial ENAC (Italian Airworthiness) IFR certification with a three-display digital cockpit in June 2003. Full IFR certification by ENAC/EASA and the FAA is based on the Honeywell Primus Epic Electronic Flight Instrumentation System (EFIS) with four 8 by 10 in. Liquid Crystal Displays.

The AB139 now exploits the basic Primus Epic architecture with two Multifunction Control Display Units (MCDUs) and an integrated Flight Management System (FMS) in place of the three original Radio Management Units. The AB139 FMS now includes a GPS navigator and helps the flight crew develop flight plans, manage single or multiple missions, and tune radio frequencies. Cockpit functionality has also been improved with the fourth display. Both the pilot and the co-pilot have independent interfaces with aircraft systems and functions via joysticks. In case of a Multifunction or Primary Flight Display failure, a single composite screen combines pertinent data from both screens.

AB139 ground and flight testing was completed at the Agusta facility in Cacina Costa, Italy and at the Honeywell facility in Phoenix, Arizona. High altitude trials were flown in Colorado, while hot weather tests were conducted in Palm Springs, California and cold weather tests in Corunna, Sweden.

Bell/Agusta has orders for over 80 AB139s from more than 40 customers world-wide. To date, AB139s have been delivered to Elilario, an Italian helicopter public transport company; the government of Namibia; and the Aga Khan Development Network for ferrying personnel and material for construction of university campuses in Central Asia. Currently, AB139final assembly is done in Italy at Agusta's Vergiate plant, near Milan. The Bell assembly facility in Amarillo Texas will complete and deliver the first U.S. aircraft in the first quarter of 2006.

The US Naval Air Systems Command has given Bell Helicopter has a $35,300,000 ceiling-priced modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract for the development of the Generation II Mission Computer for the AH-1Z and UH-1Y aircraft under the H-1 Upgrade Program. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in September 2010.

Team Apache Systems, the Limited Liability Company (LLC) of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, has reached agreement with the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command and the Program Manager Apache for the first 55 Lot 1 production Arrowhead Modernized Target Acquisition and Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) systems. The Army intends to buy 704 Arrowhead systems by 2009 to outfit its AH-64 Apache fleet. Deliveries begin in March 2005, and the first Army unit equipped with Arrowhead will be fielded by June 2005. Arrowhead with its second generation Forward Looking InfraRed (FLIR) technology will also be standard equipment for AH-64D Foreign Military Sales.

The Arrowhead targeting system has both day and night sensors. The targeting FLIR has three fields of view, an electronic zoom, an improved target tracker, and auto-boresighting capability. A charge-coupled device camera improves day TV viewing and targeting. Arrowhead also has an image-intensified TV camera to aid aircraft pilotage in athermal environments and urban scenarios. Digital imagery from the pilotage FLIR is displayed in the cockpit and on the pilot's helmet-mounted display. Advanced processing techniques give pilots the best possible resolution to avoid obstacles such as wires and trees in low-level flight.

The Turkish government has signed a contract for a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter to fly head-of-state missions. Turkey joins Turkmenistan in selecting the S-92 as its head-of-state helicopter. Turkmenistan is buying two aircraft.

To date, Sikorsky has orders, including options, for more than 60 S-92 helicopters, making it the most successful commercial launch in the company's history.