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BAE Systems Solutions and the US Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate will demonstrate a Radar-Enhanced Vision System (REVS) on a CH-47 Chinook this June to gauge the value of fused sensors in brown-outs and other obscured-visibility conditions. The notional three-month test will fuse millimeter wave radar and long wave Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) imagery on a head-down cockpit display to measure the value of one or more sensors in hazardous landing conditions. Successful trials could yield a productionized helicopter vision system in a 12- to 18-month Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) effort.

BAE successfully demonstrated radar imaging on a US Air Force C-130 and is installing a multi-sensor REVS with helmet display and advanced head tracker on an Air Force C-17. The company-funded helicopter system will be installed by AATD technicians on a bailed Army CH-47. It will use the same 24 lb radar installed on fixed-wing testbeds in a center-nose mount, and an uncooled infrared camera from BAE IEWS installed in a chin window.

The Chinook pilots will be able to view optical, radar, or fused imagery on a 6 by 8 in. display. According to BAE director of business development Dutch Neilson, "Part of the demonstration is to determine how much fusion really provides. . . The idea is you want give the pilot the best image he can get. He's got to correlate the radar image with the real world." While the thermal imager generally provides better image resolution than the 94 GHz radar, the millimeter wave picture is unaffected by dust conditions that degrade and ultimately blind an optical sensor. "It's very compelling imagery," says Mr. Nielson. "You see all the features you'd typically see on an approach."

The REVS radar uses BAE millimeter wave radar components from the UK Brimstone missile program. The 94 GHz band provides good image resolution with a smaller radar aperture than 35 GHz millimeter wave radars.

Patented BAE algorithms fuse the radar and infrared pictures with low latency.

Compared to the fixed-wing systems, an optimized helicopter REV with shorter range requirement would be smaller, and lighter, and might incorporate laser radar for cable detection and the BAE TERPROM digital map to provide terrain following cues.

BAE Systems Platform Solutions has begun component integration of a Fly-By-Wire (FBW) flight control system for the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter. Circuit card modules for the system flight control computer are in design verification testing at the BAE laboratory in Johnson City, New York. Subsequent hardware and software integration will build a triply redundant FBW system delivered to Sikorsky in the third or fourth quarter of 2004 for first flight in 2005.

The FBW system for the S-92 promises to reduce pilot workload, enhance handling properties, and trim flight control weight about 200 lb. It should also enhance the reliability of the aircraft. "You're throwing out a bunch of mechanical stuff and replacing it with high-reliability computers and sensors," explains Frank Crispino, BAE manager of helicopter programs.

Compared to a typical mechanical Automatic Flight Control System with 5% control authority, a FBW system with full authority holds velocity or position despite strong wind gusts or other external disturbances. "You can decrease the pilots' workload because you have more advanced control functions," says Mr. Crispino. "We provide higher levels of stabilization to the vehicle with advanced control laws in software."

The triply-redundant system ties flight control computers, pilot control sticks, aircraft sensors, and actuators together with ARINC 429, Ethernet, and discrete wire links. It borrows heavily on BAE work done for the cancelled RAH-66 Comanche armed reconnaissance helicopter. "The sticks we're using right now on the S-92 program are very similar to what was on the Comanche program," notes Mr. Crispino. The Comanche cockpit used three axis sidestick controllers and had no moving foot pedals. The S-92 also benefits from basic control laws and some electrical and hydraulic components developed for the RAH-66.

The hurried competition to select a new US Presidential transport helicopter - VXX -- has been slowed by Navy acquisition executive John Young and Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Mike Wynne. Naval Air Systems Command plans to award a VXX Systems Development and Demonstration (SD&D) contract by the Spring of 2004 have given way to an "event-driven" plan. The expected award schedule and its impact on VXX Initial Operational Capability and Full Operational capability are to be determined.

The Navy announced plans last year to order 23 VXX helicopters for Marine Squadron HMX-1 to achieve Initial Operational Capability in 2008. Both the Sikorsky VH-92 and Lockheed Martin US101 have completed flying evaluations with service pilots, and both teams submitted their VXX proposals in early February. The new Navy statement says, "Given the great importance of this program and the intense competition, it is essential that the Department execute this program with thoroughness and appropriate precision."

A longer VXX decision process is meant to reduce risk with more analytical work on the part of the government and greater technical maturity on the part of the contenders. The first production S-92 was officially delivered to oil fleet operator PHI in early March. Commercial operators typically accumulate flying hours about three times as fast as military operators.

To rival the spacious cabin of the three-engined US101, Sikorsky has rearranged the cabin of the twin-engined VH-92 by leveling the rear ramp. The new cabin layout is just short of 25 ft long with a 1 in. impact on the aircraft center of gravity. Sikorsky has teamed with Vought Aircraft and Rockwell Collins to make the VH-92 virtually all-American.

Lockheed Martin earlier this month announced plans to occupy a new VXX support facility outside the gate of NAVAIR headquarters at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. The 8,000 sq ft space would ultimately grow to some 40,000 sq ft and employ about 100 people performing "caged" maintenance on the Presidential helicopter. As a result, the governor of Maryland became the latest American politician to endorse the Anglo-Italian helicopter in the US Presidential competition. (Sikorsky has performed Presidential helicopter maintenance at its Connecticut plant since the Eisenhower Administration.)

Team US101 also announced it had selected more than 200 companies in 41 states to supply components and systems for the imported helicopter. If the US101 were selected, Team members would provide manufacturing and engineering services including metal fabrication, lighting systems, control panels and displays, antennas and mechanical assemblies, and furnishings. The most recently announced team member is ITT Avionics, suppliers of the ALQ-211(V)2 integrated electronic warfare suite on the Bell Boeing CV-22.

Lockheed Martin leads Team US101 as prime contractor and systems integrator. Principal subcontractor AgustaWestlandBell, a joint venture between AgustaWestland and Bell Helicopter Textron, will assemble the aircraft in Texas. US101s would fly to the Lockheed Martin Systems Integration facility in Owego, NY for electronics and cabin interiors. Lockheed Martin declines to mention how many European companies will contribute to the program and what their contributions might be. The prime contractor claims US suppliers will lay claim to at least 65% of US101 acquisition costs initially and 90% of life cycle costs over 30 years.

On March 22, 2004 the V-22 Integrated Test Team (ITT) flew the first air-to-air refueling flights since the Osprey's return to flight in May 2002. In two one-hour sorties near Patuxent River, Maryland using Osprey No. 22, Marine Lt. Col. Kevin Gross and civilian test pilot Steve Grohsmeyer each logged five "dry plugs" behind a KC-130F tanker. The primary reason for the flights was to re-establish the pilots' day aerial refueling qualifications. Eventually the ITT will have six pilots qualified to refuel the V-22 by day, at night, and at night while wearing night vision goggles.

The refueling exercise was flown at airspeeds around 200 knots and an altitude of 10,000 feet. "Air-to-air refueling is an easy task in the V-22," said Lt. Col. Gross. "The aircraft demonstrates positive and predictable characteristics in all axes but especially in the thrust axis where the pilot's ability to control closure rates is important."

Although Osprey No. 22 has an 11-foot long fixed refueling probe, the qualification flights were a step toward testing the new retractable refueling probe being installed on Osprey No. 21 at Patuxent River. The telescoping probe is just over 9 ft long when extended but retracts flush with the nose. Developmental testing of the retractable probe begins in early April and should last about three weeks.

Osprey No. 9, a CV-22 prototype, meanwhile tested its integrated electronic warfare suite on March 9 on the China Lake, California, Electronic Combat Range. Initial assessments showed that the ITT Avionics ALQ-211(V)2 Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures performed as designed.

V-22 hardware modifications to correct a flight control irregularity discovered during testing in mid-December were recently installed in Osprey Nos. 8 and 10, several weeks ahead of initial estimates. Regression flight testing will begin on March 26. Once flight testing wraps up in late April, the hardware will be incorporated into the rest of the V-22 fleet and the flight restriction will be lifted.

The General Electric Hover InfraRed Suppression System (HIRSS) being retrofitted to Bell AH-1Ws in Marine Light Attack squadrons is expected to remedy structural problems in the new AH-1Z attack and UH-1Y utility helicopters. Higher exhaust temperatures generated by the unsuppressed General Electric T700 engines in the three AH-1Z and two UH-1Y test aircraft have annealed longerons, stringers, and skin in a 10 ft section immedidately aft of the exhaust. The HIRSS has long been in the works as a survivability enhancement for the T700-engined SuperCobra, but the new suppressor installed on an AH-1W in late March turns the near-vertical engine exhausts horizontally and directs the diluted plume 17 degrees off to the sides to prevent tailboom heating. Accelerated HIRSS deliveries will give the AH-1Z/UH-1Y test aircraft suppressors in time for Operational Evaluation in late 2004. Initial Operational Capability with both new aircraft is still expected in Fiscal 2008.

The Marine Corps plans to rebuild 180 AH-1Zs from AH-1Ws and 100 UH-1Ys from UH-1Ns with common T700-GE-701C engines by 2014. Flight tests of the new helicopters were suspended on February 5 with discovery of weakened tail boom components. While the unsuppressed T700 has long operated in the AH-1W without airframe problems, higher power settings and exhaust temperatures, and higher tail boom loads, in the heavier AH-1Z/UH-1Y compromised the tail boom structure. HIRSS will cool the engine exhaust stream and direct it away from the tail boom. As an interim remedy, doubler skins are being added to the test aircraft tailbooms. Pending suppressor results, the 20 lb doublers may be removed from production aircraft.

Boeing Mesa has finished whirl-testing an MDExplorer main rotor with piezoelectrically-actuated vibration reduction flaps. The SMART (Smart Material Actuated Rotor Technology) demonstration used piezoelectric stacks to move blade trailing edge flaps under computer control. The technology can potentially reduce rotor vibration 80% and suppress helicopter noise. According to Boeing principal investigator Friedrich Straub, "The vibration reduction from an operational point of view would lower maintenance costs, extend the life of airframe components and avionics boxes, and improve readiness and availability. From a noise point of view, from the commercial aspect, it would improve community acceptance. In the military, it would reduce detectability."

The $10 million active flap rotor project was funded jointly by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Boeing Company, NASA, and the US Army. As part of the SMART team, the University of Maryland performed aeroelastic simulations and actuator tests. MIT participated in the design of actuators, and UCLA tested the performance of the robust, high-bandwidth piezoelectric elements.

Boeing Mesa designed, built, and integrated the radically modified five-bladed, bearingless test rotor on MDExplorer production tooling. Each 17-foot long blade incorporated piezoelectric spar elements. Stimulated with electrical current, the piezoelectric stacks move their flap actuators. Each flap occupies 18% of the main blade span and 25% of the chord. Thirteen hours of whirl tower testing under hover loads proved the durability of the integrated system. During the tests, the SMART rotor actuators operated for seven hours, including two continuous hours. "That turned out toe be very successful," notes Mr. Straub.

The ruggedized PC-based control system in SMART is tied to vibration sensors and runs adaptive control algorithms to work the piezoelectric actuators. "It looks at the time-history signal of the vibration as it comes in and analyzes its harmonic content," says M. Straub. Boeing derived the control algorithms from Higher Harmonic Control tests flown on an OH-6 Cayuse in 1984.

SMART vibration reduction estimates are based so far on simulation studies. Actual measurements await forward flight or wind-tunnel testing. With timely funding, the SMART rotor could fly later this year. Boeing believes commercial, military, and unmanned helicopters could incorporate SMART within five years after completion of wind tunnel and/or flight testing,.

Unlike the high-authority servo-flaps long used by Kaman for primary flight control, the low authority SMART flaps are secondary controls to reduce vibration and noise. "There may be some future versions that would have higher authority actuators that would do primary flight control also," observes Mr. Straub.

On March 20, Boeing received a partial contract termination notice from the US Army for work on the RAH-66 Comanche. Though Boeing layoffs are expected to begin shortly, the notice sustains funding for subcontractors to continue work on some portions of the Comanche Mission Equipment Package. Select MEP technology development will continue for another six months with those Statements Of Work then going on to other programs or stand-alone contracts.

Under the termination notice, the Longbow joint venture of Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin is to continue work on electronic upgrades for the AN/APG-78 fire control radar used by both the RAH-66 and the AH-64D Apache. Northrop Grumman is also to proceed with the Comanche's Integrated Communications, Navigation, Identification Avionics (ICNIA) subsystem and ICNIA Low Observable antennas. Programmable ICNIA elements would have given the RAH-66 HF, VHF-AM, VHF-FM, and UHF radios, plus Link 16 data link and SINCGARS frequency-hopping anti-jam waveforms.

Work is also to continue on the ITT Avionics AN/ALQ-211(V)3 radar warning receiver with its precision threat location capability, and on the image intensifier TV camera developed for the Lockheed Martin Electro Optical Sensor System. Elements of the Comanche Fly By Wire flight control system developed by BAe Integrated Systems also remain candidates for future development.

Lockheed Martin conducted a series of launcher and integration tests of its Hellfire II missile and M299 digital launcher system during the first flight of the Eurocopter ARH-1 Tigre for Australia on February 20. The Mil-Std-1760 digital launcher, already used on the Boeing AH-64D and WAH-64 Apaches and the Sikorsky HH-60H Seahawk, enables the Australian Tigre to launch the AGM-114L Hellfire II missile. It potentially can mate French, German, and Spanish Tigers with the same weapon. The Hellfire II/M299 integration runs through the fall of 2005 when missiles will be fired on a test range in Australia. Eurocopter is qualifying the integrated Hellfire weapon system with Lockheed Martin engineering support in France.

Maximum Hellfire load for the Tigre ARH-1 is eight missiles, four on each inboard wing station. Electrical interfaces for the launcher could be incorporated in all four Tiger hardpoints to suit future customer requirements. The 'smart' launcher can mix semi-active laser designated Hellfire II and active radar-homing Longbow Hellfire missiles. Lockheed Martin notes a Longbow interface could be added to the Tiger with a simple software modification. The M299 Hellfire Launcher is also being integrated onto the Bell AH-1Z attack helicopter and the Sikorsky MH-60S Multi-Mission/Special Operations helicopter

Amid the bounty of new programs pledged by the Secretary of the Army to spring from the Comanche cancellation was the Joint MultiRole Helicopter. However, neither the Army Aviation and Missile Command in Alabama nor the Department of the Army in Washington had any knowledge of the program. A subsequent industry-wide Request For Information (RFI) provided no clues who might share in the Joint development or what roles the aircraft might fulfill. The Army Program Executive Officer for Aviation said the RFI simply asked industry for ideas.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Secretary of Defense now explains that the Joint Multi-Role Helicopter program is matched to the attack and reconnaissance missions. It is the notional follow-on to Apache and the new armed reconnaissance aircraft that will be bought to fill the void left by the prompt retirement of the Kiowa Warrior and the cancellation of the Comanche. Such notional concepts were previously called the Future Attack Rotorcraft and other names.

The technology development effort is expected after Fiscal Year 2020. Preliminary plans for the Comanche funding reallocations show a gradually increasing Science and Technology effort beginning in the latter part of the current Five Year Defense Plan.

The same technology roadmap funnels utility and cargo missions into a Joint Vertical Aircraft Task Force. However, the task force is not a follow-on program, but an internal OSD committee. Army participation reflects the service's intent to be part of any joint, follow-on utility and cargo helicopter replacements in the "out-years." The Army has also allocated place-holder funding in the out-years of the Five Year Defense Plan for any joint program in these mission areas.

OSD anticipates that any new-start vertical lift program will be joint. The Army and the Marines, as owners of the greatest quantities of rotorcraft, are the most likely participants, but all services would be expected to meet their needs through joint efforts.

The Vectored Thrust Ducted Propeller (VTDP) Advanced Technology Demonstration initially sponsored by the Office of Naval Research is transitioning to US Army oversight. Piasecki Aircraft in Essington, Pennsylvania has the VTDP compound helicopter about 70% complete, and expects to sign a new contract in April that will place the program under the Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate. According to company vice president John W. Piasecki, first flight of the Navy YSH-60F demonstrator with its thruster propeller and fixed wing should occur in late 2005 or early 2006.

The VTDP uses a five-bladed propeller within an 8 ft diameter composite duct with thrust-vectoring sectors and a horizontal elevator. As the aircraft accelerates, the VTDP sectors fold back to direct all thrust along the line of flight. Power to the tail thruster increases as the fixed wing unloads the main rotor, promising the compound helicopter greater speed and range than conventional helicopters, and less vibration. The VTDP ATD was initiated by the Navy to provide backup technology should the MH-60S Knight Hawk have proven unable to tow Airborne Mine Countermeasures (AMCM) gear.

With successful AMCM demonstrations of the Knight Hawk, the Navy offered the VTDP program to the Army as Science and Technology leader on rotorcraft. The Army vision of a Future Force contemplates very long range air assaults. "That makes this technology very relevant," says Mr. Piasecki.

To save time, the Naval Air Systems Command has already agreed to conduct the VTDP test flight program under FAA rather than military airworthiness rules using Piasecki rather than military pilots. "The product of this demonstration is engineering flight test data," says Mr. Piasecki. "It will not be an operational aircraft."

Piasecki Aircraft has completed most major component qualification tests on the demonstrator including the airframe, wing, wing interface structure, drive system mounts, and VTDP attachments. The VTDP propulsion system with its supplementary power unit completed a 200 hour endurance test on the Naval Helicopter Transmission Test Facility at Patuxent River. VTDP team members include Purdy Corp. for the drive system, Penn State for flight control development, and Kaman Aerospace for airframe testing.

The Bell Helicopter Eagle Eye Vertical Takeoff and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VUAV) proposed in the US Coast Guard Integrated Deepwater System passed its Preliminary Design Review (PDR) in late January. The PDR conducted by Deepwater contractor Integrated Coast Guard Systems finalized the tilt rotor VUAV configuration. About 20% larger than the HV-911 Proof of Concept demonstrator, the missionized vehicle will operate from new National Security Cutters and shore stations. Critical Design Review in November will precede a first flight in late 2005 or early 2006 by a company-funded risk reduction demonstrator. Three production air vehicles and two ground stations will be delivered with the first new cutter in late 2006. Deepwater modernization plans now call for 69 VUAVs.

The production Eagle Eye (tentatively designated RQ-10) will carry a Telephonics search radar and FLIRSystems Star SAFIRE III electro-optical payload, and L3 Communications West datalink. The design promises an additional 100 lb payload growth for future sensors. With a Pratt & Whitney 200-55 turboshaft and a gross takeoff weight around 3,000 lb, the production tilt rotor will have better than 5 hours endurance with operating fuel reserves. A representative mission profile includes 100 nm transit to the search area, 3 hours on station, and 100 nm return with 20 minutes reserve.

Aboard ship, the VUAV will be compatible with the Indal ASIST deck recovery and traverse system to be used by the modernized HH-65X multi-mission cutter helicopter. Bell Helicopter will supply the ground control station.

Separate from the massive Deepwater modernization managed by Integrated Coast Guard Systems (Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin), the US Coast Guard Aircraft Repair and Supply Center at Elizabeth City, North Carolina has launched an upgrade of the HH-60J Jayhawk. The service intends to modernize the Jayhawk cockpit with the Rockwell Collins Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) under development for US Army Special Operations Helicopters. The planned system will incorporate Search-And-Rescue-specific software into the CAAS and use the same displays chosen for the Special Operations aircraft. A prototype aircraft is in process at Elizabeth City.

Deepwater plans initially allocated modest sustainment money to keep the Jayhawk Medium Range Recovery helicopter operational until the arrival of the new AB139 Vertical Recovery System. The 42 HH-60Js were to be phased out of service between 2013 and 2022. Since then, the Coast Guard has reformulated a spending plan to upgrade the Jayhawk cockpit and undertake additional improvements aimed at keeping the Jayhawk in service beyond 2022.

Commonality with the Special Operations cockpits enables the Coast Guard to order additional systems as a simple CAAS contract modification. The upgrade will include a new radar and Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) sensor common to other Deepwater aviation platforms, and selected structural improvements to extend the life of the air vehicle.

Money to start production installations in 2004 has been delayed by the more immediate push to re-engine Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphins. If the first production HH-60J upgrade proceeds in 2006, modernization of four or five aircraft per year would stretch through 2015.

An armed HH-60J Proof Of Concept demonstration is already underway, and other Coast Guard plans demand the range and cabin size of the Jayhawk. Elizabeth City is already installing new transmission beams in HH-60Js, and to extend the life of the improved Jayhawk, the Coast Guard intends to install the new General Electric T700-GE-701D engine developed for the Army UH-60M. Black Hawk. Further air vehicle improvements will be identified in a structural evaluation in 2005 when the first Jayhawks exceed 10,000 flight hours.

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