Members Area
Username:

	AWARDS
	CALENDAR OF EVENTS
	DIRECTORS & OFFICERS
	HISTORY
	JOB OPPORTUNITIES
	KID'S PAGE
	LOCAL CHAPTER MEETINGS
	MEMBERSHIP
	NOVELTIES
	PUBLICATIONS
	VERTICAL FLIGHT FOUNDATION
	WWW LINKS

Archivals
January 2004
Year 2003

Australian developer Metal Storm Limited plans to fire its 40 mm electronic-weapon system from a Dragonfly DP-4X helicopter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in the US in the second quarter of 2004. Developed by Dragonfly Pictures Inc. in Essington, Pennsylvania, the man-portable Dragonfly DP-4X was designed to carry imaging, communications and environmental sensors. The lightweight, multi-shot electronic weapon system will enable small, lightweight UAVs to undertake small-scale strikes in support of ground troops.

The Metal Storm weapon technology uses bullets stacked in a barrel, each bullet separated by a propellant load that is ignited electronically. The system provides widely variable rates of fire, and enables designers to mix rounds with non-lethal ordnance or other loads.

The US Army has killed the RAH-66 Comanche armed reconnaissance helicopter to strengthen Army Aviation. Based on an ongoing review of Aviation requirements, Army leadership has decided to abandon the 21-year Comanche development struggle and redirect $14.6 billion allocated to the RAH-66 from Fiscal 2004 to 2011 to existing helicopter modernization programs, new purchases of unspecified aircraft, and an accelerated push for Unmanned Air Vehicles. The intended result will be the new purchase, upgrade, recapitalization, or modernization of over 70 percent of the Army helicopter fleet. The plan still leaves the Army searching for an armed reconnaissance helicopter to replace the Bell OH-58D.

An Army Aviation Mission Area Analysis documented shortcomings in the light helicopter fleet in December 1982. By 1985, the Army expected to buy 4,595 LHXs in Scout/Attack and Utility versions. Utility LHX was cancelled in 1988, and plans for 1,292 scout-attack Comanches shrank to 650 aircraft in 2002. Unit cost of the low-observable armed reconnaissance system with its centralized avionics architecture and integrated sensor suite ultimately grew to over $60 million. Overall program expenditures were nearly $7 billion. Only two Demonstration Validation prototypes have flown.

The Boeing Sikorsky Comanche team was taken by surprise February 23 with official notification of the termination just 90 minutes before the public Pentagon announcement. The public announcement claims Army Aviation will restructure once again to accelerate aircrew protection and Aircraft Survivability Equipment (ASE) initiatives; modernize some 1,400 helicopters; transform Reserve Component aviation; purchase about 800 new aircraft; and add UAVs to "extend battlefield awareness and strengthen manned-unmanned teaming."

The Army already plans to modernize around 500 Boeing Apaches, 300 Chinooks, and 1,200 Sikorsky Black Hawks. However, the current aviation recapitalization leaves more than 200 Apaches and 100 Chinooks unmodernized and falls short of the required 1,680 Black Hawks. A Block II Black Hawk modernization is so far an unfunded requirement. In addition, Hueys withdrawn from the Army National Guard and active units create a requirement for Light Utility Helicopters. Still to be addressed is a new Army requirement for 368 light attack helicopters.

Under the new plan, sacrificing 121 Comanches will enable the Army to fund Block III modernization for 501 AH-64Ds and remanufacture 237 AH-64As previously denied Longbow recapitalization. Redirected funds will buy another 20 CH-47Chinooks, 80 additional UH-60 Black Hawks, 303 unidentified light utility helicopters, and 25 unidentified fixed-wing cargo aircraft. In addition, Army news stories now talk of a Joint Multi-Role Helicopter still unknown to the Army Aviation and Missile Command.

Assuming Comanche funds remain committed to Aviation, they should also pay for broader application of the ITT ALQ-211 Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures, BAe ALQ-212 Suite of Integrated Infrared Countermeasures, and other aircraft survivability equipment. The Army has already chosen the Northrop Grumman RQ-8B UAV to integrate with its Future Combat System, and a range of UAVs promise to equip the Future Force with everything from man-portable airplanes to Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft.

To soften the blow on Comanche suppliers and the United States rotorcraft industry, the Army says it needs the "industrial base to increase its production capability to meet the Army's requirements for new and modernized aircraft."

The official Boeing response stated, "We are disappointed with the U.S. Army's decision to cancel the Comanche program. The Boeing-Sikorsky team has more than 1,300 dedicated people working on this program, which is on budget, on schedule and meeting all program milestones. Because this program represents less than one percent of Boeing's projected 2004 revenues, the greatest impact this announcement will have is on the highly-skilled team working on the transformational technologies that were to be incorporated into Comanche."

Both Boeing and Sikorsky set up Comanche production facilities with production tooling. Program termination plans and costs have yet to be formulated.

The Naval Air Systems Command Aircraft Division at Lakehurst, New Jersey has awarded SEA Systems Group Inc. an SBIR Phase III production contract for energy-attenuating seat cushions to outfit Marine AH-1 attack and UH-1 utility helicopters. The MitiGator™ passive energy dissipater uses patented air control technology to reduce impact and vibration forces. In Navy tests, the layered cushion reduced spinal loading 8.8 times better than common foam cushions with impacts up to 23 G. Deliveries of Cobra and Huey cushions will start in March. The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract stretches through February 2009.

The MitiGator technology uses internally molded air passages and interconnecting orifices in the compressed cushion to create a choked supersonic airflow that dissipates crash loads and redirects impact energy laterally. Vibration tests recorded energy reductions from 33 to 60% over conventional foam seat cushions. The new cushions will be form, fit, and function replacements for those in the AH-1W SuperCobra and UH-1NTwin Huey.

Under Phase I and II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programs, SEA Systems Group demonstrated cushions that protect crewmembers from crash impacts and reduce the fatigue and pain caused by vibration. Phase III transitions the program to production for the Navy. According to NAVAIR SBIR program manager Carol "We were looking for some kind of better absorbent material for these cushions, but then we wanted to mature that technology and get it out to the fleet."

The MitiGator cushions were tested in US Navy TH-57s and production cushions now equip US Coast Guard MH-68 Stingray helicopters. The Navy is considering the cushions for F-18, E-2, and other aircraft crewseats. SEA Systems Group has had discussions regarding cushions for the Army Black Hawk.

LHTEC, the Honeywell/Rolls Royce joint venture company created to develop and manufacture the engine for the RAH-66 Comanche has received an FAA Type Certificate for the commercial CTS800-4N version of the engine. The modular -4N turboshaft shares 60% commonality with the Comanche T800, including the Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC).

The 1,361 shp CTS800-4N is in production for the Super Lynx 300 ordered by Malaysia, Thailand, Oman, and South Africa. The Super Lynx can be configured for utility use, as a scout aircraft or for attack missions.

Prior to the RAH-66 cancellation, LHTEC was due to deliver the first of 34 1,680 shp T800-LHT-802 engines for Comanche Engineering, Manufacturing and Development in May 2004.

Under a US Army contract, Honeywell Engines, Systems, and Services has begun component detail design of a 5,000 shp-classT55-GA-714B turboshaft for the Boeing Chinook. The company has also begun independent studies of a 6,000 shp-class -715 engine aimed at an improved Sikorsky CH-53E and new applications. The -714B development schedule aims for full engine qualification by late 2006. Service introduction follows within 12 months after qualification. The -715 program is driven by the market for the more powerful engine.

The T55-GA-714A now in production for US Army Chinooks provides 22% more power and 7% lower specific fuel consumption over its -712 predecessor. The -714A engine gave select CH-47s even better high altitude/ hot day mission performance in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

The next-generation T55-GA-714B engine incorporates Honeywell's improved centrifugal compressor technology with a single-piece, lean-back impeller. Increased compressor efficiency promises further increase in turbine temperature margin and reduction in SFC over the current production -714A engine. In addition, the -714B has improvements in the Number 2 oil sump, hardline plumbing, N2 sensor system, bleed air system, and fluted tail pipe.

The cumulative technology improvements will further increase the Chinook's mission capability, and keep engines in operation longer with lower life cycle costs and better readiness.

The first MD Helicopters MDExplorer has been formally accepted by the US Drug Enforcement Administration for imminent delivery. The DEA is under contract for up to 40 aircraft under annual options. The actual number will be determined by future Agency budgets. The MDExplorer contract is assumable by any other federal agency, and some of the twin-engined helicopters may be delivered to the Department of Homeland Security, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other government users.

Intended for surveillance, command-and-control, and sensitive transport missions, the single-pilot IFR helicopter has a sophisticated mission suite much like that evaluated by the US Coast Guard. The package includes a FLIR, NVG-compatible cockpit lighting, commercial GPS navigator, rescue hoist, comprehensive radio suite, and auxiliary fuel tanks.

MD Helicopters is also soon to deliver the last of five specially configured MDExplorers to the Stuttgart Police in Germany and will deliver another eight sophisticated aircraft to the Dutch National Police in 2004. The deliveries will put the company in a more favorable financial position as the US Army National Guard revisits its light utility helicopter requirement.

The two industry teams in the VXX Presidential helicopter competition submitted their proposals to the US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) at Patuxent River, Maryland on February 2. The Lockheed Martin US101 team delivered its 5,000-page proposal to NAVAIR at Patuxent River, Maryland on a UK Royal Air Force Merlin HC.3, the military utility EH101 upon which the US101 is based.

U.S. Navy and Marine Corps test pilots used one of two Merlins in the United States to conduct a Naval Preliminary Evaluation (NPE) of the EH101 from January 12 to 28. The NPE focused on aircraft handling and performance. Sikorsky Aircraft subsequently delivered a modified H-92 to Patuxent River for its flight evaluation.

The Fiscal 2005 Defense budget provides for five VXX Presidential Helicopter Replacement Aircraft to enhance the performance, survivability, communications, navigation, and executive accommodations of the Marine HMX-1 Executive Flight Detachment. A selection of a new Marine One helicopter is expected in late spring or early summer and will lead to a contract for around 24 aircraft with deliveries starting in 2007.

Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor and systems integrator for the US101 and will sub-contract a joint venture company, AgustaWestlandBell, LLC, to assemble the aircraft in Texas. Systems integration, mission customization, and final aircraft delivery will be done at the Lockheed Martin facility in Owego, NY. The basic EH101 has 30 to 40% US content, and plans call for the US101 to include at least 65% US content from suppliers in 41 states. General Electric will supply the CT7-8E engines that power the US101.

The VH-92 team includes six companies already providing systems, products, or training for Presidential missions, including FlightSafety International; L-3 Communications Integrated Systems; Northrop Grumman; Rockwell Collins; and Vought Aircraft Industries. General Electric Aircraft Engines will provide the CT7-8C engines for the VH-92. The global H-92 now made in seven countries is 72% US content by value or 80% by weight. Sikorsky Aircraft claims the proposed VH-92 will be virtually all-American.

Laser Head Tracker Flies On Canadian Helicopter

The National Research Council of Canada's Institute for Aerospace Research (NRC-IAR) has flown a developmental night vision system with the Ascension Technology laserBIRD™ head tracker. In night trials last November, a Bell 205 pilot wearing Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) flew to a landing zone following a computer-generated path superimposed on the NVG field of view. With the laserBIRD sensor on the pilots helmet, flight-following symbology can be projected wherever the pilot looks.

The NRC-IAR in co-operation with the Canadian Department of National Defense, UK Ministry of Defense, and QinetiQ in the UK is now refining the NVG pilotage system for another round of flight tests this November. "The end goal is certainly to develop a commercial product with an industrial partner," says research officer Sion Jennings. The system uses an NRC-developed GPS/inertial navigator and terrain model to match the aircraft position to a flightplan entered through a digital map. The combined navigation system provides position information with 1 msec latency and 1 m accuracy, and the pilot sees realtime waypoints and other cues on the NVG field of view.

The laser-based head tracker has been used previously only on helicopter simulators -- including the RAH-66 Comanche simulator at Fort Rucker. It provides accurate head position and orientation data without tracking lag. A miniaturize scanner reflects laser beams throughout the cockpit, and a helmet-mounted sensor instantly signals the scanner for signal processing and transmission to the onboard computer that generates the NVG display.

The laser head tracker has no clumsy physical linkages like mechanical trackers, and it is unaffected by the metallic interference and vibration that degrade magnetic and inertial devices. It can also be switched from one helmet to another without recalibration.

Ascension Technology Corporation in Burlington, Vermont provides magnetic, optical and inertial motion-tracking solutions for military targeting systems, simulation, virtual reality, biomechanics, animation, and medical applications.

Honeywell Engines, Systems, and Services has run an improved version of the veteran LTS101 turboshaft with dual channel Full Authority Digital Electronic Control (FADEC) in its Phoenix test cell. The new FADEC is compatible with either the improved LTS101-850 now in some US Coast Guard HH-65B Dolphins or the new HTS101-900 candidate engine for the upgraded HH-65X Multi-Mission Cutter Helicopter. The -900 engine will begin test runs this summer, and prototypes could fly in 2005.

Integrated Coast Guard Systems (the Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman joint venture managing the Coast Guard Deepwater fleet modernization) has issued a Request For Information (RFI) on HH-65X engine candidates. The HTS101-950 is openly competing with the Turbomeca Arriel 2C2 engine for the powerplant upgrade. A decision is expected in late April. Pending formal Coast Guard performance requirements, the US engine could restore performance at higher gross weights without costly changes to the Dolphin tranmission, cowlings, engine mounts, fuel system, inlets or exhausts.

Since the HH-65A entered service in the 1980s, Dolphin gross weight has increased from the original 8,400 lb design target to the current 8,900 lb for shipboard operations and 9,200 lb for land-based operations. The Deepwater Multi-Mission Cutter Helicopter is now a modernized HH-65X with a maximum takeoff weight of 9,500 lb.

Honeywell is already under contract to upgrade 61 LTS101-750 engines to -850 standards with a cooled gas producer turbine that generates about 25% more hot-day power. The company has so far upgraded about 20 engines in overhaul and will continue -850 deliveries through October 2004. The Coast Guard nevertheless has 94 twin-engined HH-65s and will need additional -850 engines to outfit its entire fleet.

Honeywell light and utility program director for military and helicopter engines Bob Miller notes the current -850 engine already complies with the power requirements in the HH-65X RFI. "We don't believe from the performance data we've got you need a new transmission or a new engine."

However, should more detailed requirements demand more power, the new HTS101-900 engine will be recertificated with a new compressor. In the same physical envelope, the -900 will increase standard day power to nearly 900 shp on a standard day, up from 684 shp for the -750 and 780 shp for the -850 engine.

The cooled turbine increases turbine disk life from 6,300 cycles in the -750 engine to 15,000 cycles in the -850. The more powerful -900 engine would stabilize turbine life around 12,000 cycles. Honeywell has dramatically improved the reliability of the LTS101. "We invested heavily in the -101 after the Lycoming acquisition in 1994," says Mr. Miller. "We're seeing extremely good reliability on the core engine." Unscheduled removal rates have fallen from 2.5 per 1,000 flight hours with the original LTS101 to 0.5 per 1,000 hours with the current -750 engine. "We think the -850 will be better with more hot day power. . . The -900 should be even better because the new compressor will help the operating efficiency."

Honeywell has also funded development of the dual-channel FADEC. The Coast Guard halted development of a customized single-channel FADEC for the LTS101 in 2001. The engine manufacturer started dual-channel development in 2002 using hydromechanical technology from the T800 turboshaft and electronics from the FJ44 turbofan. "We're trying not to re-invent the wheel," says Mr. Miller. The new FADEC gives either the -900 or -850 engine new control redundancy and eliminates nearly a dozen control components from the engine. Honeywell also plans to apply the new control to the T53 engine.

The US Army has awarded CAE USA a $43 million contract to build a new MH-47G Chinook combat mission simulator (CMS) and begin design work on a refurbishment and upgrade of the existing MH-60K Black Hawk CMS. The networkable MH-47 and MH-60 CMSs, and the new MH-6 Little Bird CMS, will give aviators of the160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) collective mission rehearsal capability. Night Stalker crews in different helicopters will be able to practice team missions in a CAE common database/common environment. The technology makes it easier and faster to import data from various sources into a virtual battlespace.

The MH-47G CMS will be delivered to Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, in early 2006 while the MH-60K CMS will be scheduled for delivery later that year. The MH-6 Little Bird CMS is due at Fort Campbell this June and should be Ready For Training in September. All three use CAE-developed motion bases to reproduce helicopter-like vibration.

The MH-47G and MH-60K Block 1 CMSs will include the Rockwell Collins Special Operations Common Avionics Architecture System (SOCAAS) being integrated into the MH-47, MH-60 and MH-6 helicopters. The two new CMSs will feature the high-fidelity CAE Medallion-S™ image generator and a large field-of-view display system. Field of view in the Chinook and Black Hawk simulators will cover 220 by 60 degrees. The Little Bird CMS provides a 245- by 90-degree fireld of view, one of the largest ever built on a motion platform. In addition, the Black Hawk and Little Bird simulators will include the ability to simulate flight with "doors off," enabling pilots to look down and see a virtual scene and computer-generated forces.

Negotiations between CAE and the Army Program Executive Office - Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation will result in additional contracts later this year for CAE to design a common environment/database architecture and develop and manufacture the MH-60K Block 1 CMS. Work will be done at the CAE USA facility in Tampa, Florida. Under an existing $5 million contract, CAE is already designing MH-47 and MH-60 desktop and part task trainers based on CAE Simfinity™ technology.

The first of three Hellenic Navy S-70B helicopters flew at the Sikorsky plant on February 10. Joining the existing Hellenic Navy fleet of eight S-70B-6s, the new Aegean Hawks carry the Raytheon AN/AAS-44 FLIR with laser designator for Hellfire air-to-surface missiles. The new aircraft also integrate the Rockwell Collins FMS-800 Flight Management System with four LCD cockpit displays, BAe ALE-47 Countermeasure Dispensing System, improved Electronic Support Measures (ESM), and a navigation system with embedded GPS/INS.

The first two of the three new aircraft will be accepted in-country in June 2004.

Greece received its first S-70B-6s in 1995. The Hellenic Navy helicopters perform both anti-submarine and anti-surface unit warfare missions with dipping sonar, search radar, ESM, and the Penguin anti-ship missile. They also support civilian search and rescue requirements, including medical transfers from remote Greek islands to mainland medical facilities.

Under a contract from the Defense Advanced Projects Agency, Honeywell Defense and Space Electronic Systems will fly a refined Class I (man portable) unmanned air vehicle by June 2004. Ten gasoline-powered shrouded-rotor, vertical takeoff and landing micro-UAVs will be delivered to the US Army by the end of the year. Fifty diesel-fueled versions will be delivered at the end of 2005.

The new vehicle builds upon a similar but unstable configuration demonstrated by Allied Aerospace and exploits Honeywell advances in Micro-ElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS). The HC1930 MEMS inertial unit will stabilize and control the vehicle in autonomous flight. With the shrouded fan and moving thrust vanes, the micro-UAV will fly itself through vertical takeoff, inclined cruise, surveillance hover, and vertical landing. A Northrop Grumman ground station will enter the mission program into the MEMS.

Honeywell is already flying a 29 in. diameter Class II/III (vehicle-carried) prototype. The smaller Class I air vehicle with 3 hp gasoline engine will carry a 2 lb payload including two visible-light TV cameras and infrared or other sensors to be determined. Gross vehicle weight will be 10 to 12 lb. A production version is expected to provide one-hour endurance and reach airspeeds to 40 mph. The complete UAV system will two air vehicles should weight around 40 lb.

Honeywell Aerospace Electronic Systems is the UAV prime contractor, relying on Shadow UAV-maker AAI to manufacture the air vehicle with aerodynamics refined by Sandia labs and a fan designed and built by Honeywell Engines, Systems, and Services. The supplier of the diesel-fueled engine will be chosen by Honeywell after a three-way competition.

TOP