Boeing Acquires UAV Developer Frontier Systems Inc.

Boeing has acquired Frontier Systems Inc., developer of the A-160 Hummingbird and Maverick unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The innovative A-160 VTOL UAV was developed under contract from DARPA and the Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate as a candidate Class IVB UAV for the Army's Future Combat System. The Maverick VTOL UAV developed from the Robinson R22 commercial helicopter was used to develop the flight management system and other equipment for the A-160. Frontier Systems based in Irvine, California was formed in 1991and has about 70 employees. Boeing Phantom Works will now complete development of the Hummingbird and then transfer the program to Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) in pursuit of a production contract.

The A-160 with its variable speed rigid rotor was designed to achieve endurance better than 40 hours, operating ceilings around 30,000 ft, and ranges greater than 2,500 nm. Predicted hovering ceiling is to exceed 15,000 ft. First forward flight was made in January 2002, and the innovative design has progressed from a three-bladed to a four-bladed rotor system and from a gasoline to a more efficient heavy fuel engine. With a 50 to 60% fuel fraction and low-drag advanced rotor system, the autonomous air vehicle is expected to achieve ranges greater than 2,500 nm with a variety of payloads.

Syracuse Research Corp. was awarded a contract in May from the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command for an ultra- high frequency, foliage penetrating, real-time moving target indicator/synthetic aperture radar for use in the A160.

 
UH-1Y Fires Weapons

The Bell/Marine Corps UH-1Y Huey utility helicopter, fired weapons for the first time during a May test flight at the Army’s Fort AP Hill, Virginia. The test makes sure the loads and vibrations are within expected limits when the weapons mounted on the aircraft are fired. Plans call for around 40 test flights to fire approximately 400 2.75-inch rockets, 12,800 rounds of machine gun ammunition, 136 flares, 104 chaff canisters and 104 decoys. Weapons testing of the AH-1Z attack helicopter, continues at the Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.

The UH-1Y/AH-1Z Operational Evaluation is scheduled to begin early next year. Both modernized aircraft recently completed their second operational assessment by Fleet operators. Marine Corps plans call for100 UH-1Y Hueys and 180 AH-1Z Super Cobras by 2014.

 
First Production NH90 flies at Berlin Air Show

The first serial production NH90 helicopter to come off the Eurocopter production line in Germany flew at the ILA Berlin Air Show after first flight early this month at the Donauwörth Eurocopter facility in Germany. TGEA01 is the first of 50 NH90 Tactical Transport helicopters on order for the German Bundeswehr.

The first production aircraft has the glass cockpit, Fly-By-Wire controls, and dual bus Core Avionics System of production NH90s. The dedicated Mission System includes: Forward Looking Infrared, Helmet Mounted Sight and Display, Electronic Warfare System, Tactical Control and Tactical Communication System, Weather Radar, and Digital Map Generator.

NH Industries has orders for presently 325 units and options for a further 86 from France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Greece.

 
Boeing Rolls Out First MH-47G

The first MH-47G Chinook for the US Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) rolled out in a ceremony at the Boeing Philadelphia plant on May 6 for formal delivery later this month. The first MH-47G is one of three "reconstitution" aircraft ordered to replace MH-47E losses. Two more MH-47G reconstitution aircraft will be converted from CH-47D airframes. Additional G's will be converted from a mix of MH-47Ds, MH-47Es, and CH-47Ds. The current US Army Special Operations Command procurement objective is 61 MH-47Gs to be delivered by 2011.

Based on the airframe of an unfinished MH-47E, the new Special Operations Aircraft combines the enlarged fuel sponsons, air refueling probe, and terrain following/terrain avoidance radar of the MH-47E with a new Rockwell Collins Special Operations Forces Common Avionics Architecture System (SOF CAAS).

The 160th SOAR initially received 26 MH-47Es to operate alongside 11 MH-47Ds for long-range, night/adverse weather infiltration, exfiltration, and resupply missions. The MH-47Es with their multi-mode radar are the most desired Special Operations aviation assets and will remain in service until 2009. One of the aircraft self-deployed 1,319 nm from Korea to the Philippines in approximately 13 hours.

Given the importance of Special Operations aviation in the War on Terror, the Army is giving priority to MH-47G's in the CH-47F recapitalization plan. The first CH-47F cargo helicopter is due for delivery in July, and 34 MH-47Gs will fill slots on the same remanufacturing line. (Reconstitution and remanufacture plans now give the 160th 71 MH-47Gs, 10 more the current authorization.) Six of the first seven Chinooks in Lot 1 production will become MH-47Gs converted from CH-47Ds. The first three MH-47Gs in production Lot 1 are due for delivery in August, September, and October 2004. With Special Operations Chinooks in demand, the MH-47Ds and Es will not return to the factory until the end of production Lot 3 at the end of 2004.

  Army Plans All-New CH-47F Airframes

The Army Cargo Helicopter Program Office has decided to buy new machined airframes for all Boeing CH-47F Chinooks rather than patch and repair 40-year-old airframes. Newly-machined airframes will be incorporated in the next CH-47F production lot -- Lot 3. Deliveries start in the fall of 2006.

> Only three CH-47Fs exist today -- two Engineering and Manufacturing Development aircraft currently completing Initial Operational Testing and one Low Rate Initial Production aircraft scheduled for delivery in July 2004. The original CH-47F recapitalization scheme sent each incoming Chinook to Summit Aviation for teardown and thorough inspection. Summit would have cataloged airframe components that need replacement or rehabilitation. Under the old plan, Boeing then fabricated unique parts for each Chinook and installed them in recovered structures on the CH-47F line. Manufacturing and assembly variations incorporated in different aircraft over the long life of the Chinook increased assembly time and cost.

Boeing meanwhile suggested an Affordable Airframe initiative could match the cost of a rehabilitated fuselage with a totally new structure that would standardize the fleet, improve fit and finish, and potentially reduce parts count. Machined-frame technology is already used in Chinook aircraft sold on the international market. According to CH-47F Improved Cargo Helicopter product manager Lt. Col. Anthony Pelczynski, "The Program Office has been working on this effort for many years and was looking for the right opportunity to move the technology into the US fleet."

The recent contract for seven new-build Chinooks to replace combat losses has enabled the Army program office and Boeing to introduce machined airframes into both the new-build line and remanufacturing lines.

Chinook manufacturing drawings have already been transferred to a CATIA three-dimensional database, and computer-aided manufacturing techniques make new parts with greater accuracy and less variance. Re-designed structures may also consolidate parts. Boeing studies indicate the number of parts in the aft rotor pylon, for example, could be reduced by a third. The CH-47F/G airframe is stiffened for vibration reduction, and new structures provide additional opportunities for part and weight reductions.

Recapitalized Chinooks would still incorporate rehabilitated dynamics, hydraulics, and electrical components. Significantly, Boeing Philadelphia has received a $24,925,000 contract for integration of the Rockwell Common Avionics Architecture System into the CH-47F. Boeing originally integrated the CH-47F crewstation around Rockwell Collins hardware and software on a MIL-STD 1553B databus. The initial CH-47F instrument panel brackets a single 6 by 8 in. multi-function display with two 4 by 4 in. pilot displays but retains legacy electromechanical instruments to display engine parameters. The SOF CAAS cockpit for the recapitalized MH-47G has five 6 by 8 in. multi-function displays. CAAS deliveries will begin with CH-47F Lot 3.

  VTDP Goes Army

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.

  BAE Systems Receives Army Contract for Black Hawk Fuel Managers

BAE Systems has received a contract from the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command for 160 Auxiliary Fuel Management Systems (AFMS) to be installed on UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, New Jersey. BAE has already produced more than 1,000 AFMS's for some Black Hawks. The post-production installations are intended to prepare active duty and National Guard aircraft for combat deployments.

The $3.7 million contract also calls for the delivery of 60 auxiliary fuel management panels that also will be installed on Black Hawk helicopters. Used with Black Hawk external fuel tanks, the AFMS computes continuous fuel quantity for individual tanks and total fuel quantity for the aircraft. The system also computes aircraft center of gravity, fuel transfer quantities, and transfer rate, and provides fuel system warning conditions.

  Lockheed To Develop Joint Common Missile

Lockheed Martin has been selected to develop the Joint Common Missile (JCM) system for a range of rotary and fixed-wing applications. The initial $53 million contract launches JCM System Design and Development. SDD includes a 14-month risk reduction phase and a 36-month testing/integration phase to ready the JCM for initial production. The first missiles are expected in the field in 2010. Intended to replace the Hellfire and Longbow Hellfire on the Army AH-64, Marine AH-1Z, and Navy armed MH-60R and S helicopters, JCM will also replace the Maverick missile on the F-18 Hornet jet. The JCM rocket motor affords sufficient turndown ratio to maximize range from rotary- and fixed-wing platforms.

The new missile incorporates a flexible tri-mode seeker: Semi-active laser mode affords precision-strike capability with low collateral damage. Imaging infrared mode affords passive fire-and-forget capability despite countermeasures. Millimeter wave radar provides active fire-and-forget capability by day or night and in adverse weather. The JCM multi-purpose warhead provides a shaped charge to defeat armored threats and a blast fragmentation capability with a precursor charge to penetrate ships, buildings, bunkers and other "soft" targets.

Design and development of the JCM will be undertaken at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando, Florida. The missiles will be produced at the company's advanced missile manufacturing facility in Troy, Alabama. Over the life of the program, the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps are expected to buy up to 54,000 JCM rounds with a potential value around $5 billion. The UK Ministry of Defence has also expressed interest in co-development and production.

  MH-60S Flies With Laser Mine Detector

The Sikorsky MH-60S has begun captive-carry testing of the Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS) for Airborne Mine Countermeasures (AMCM). One of several AMCM systems planned by the US Navy for the MH-60S, the Northrop Grumman ALMDS uses an aircraft-mounted LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensor to detect floating and moored mines down to the keel depth of ships. The AMCM-capable MH-60S will provide the Carrier Battle Groups (CVBG) and Amphibious Ready Groups (ARG) organic airborne mine countermeasures (OAMCM) capability on any aviation-capable ship. Initial Operational Capability is expected in 2005,

ALMDS flight tests began April 12 to verify the airworthiness of the Concurrent Corp. Carriage, Stream, Tow, and Recovery System (CSTRS) that carries AMCM system on the MH-60S. Once Sikorsky completes captive carry testing in Stratford, Connecticut the aircraft will depart for Patuxent River, Maryland and ultimately Panama City, Florida for AMCM testing this spring.

The mine-sweeping Knighthawk incorporates a tow point in the lower fuselage, hookups for a roll-on/roll-off mine countermeasures console, and a 400-gal. auxiliary internal fuel tank. It can also be fitted with the CSTARS on the port side. The 51st production MH-60S and all subsequent Knighthawks incorporate provisions for AMCM kits. Sikorsky Aircraft formally delivered the first production MH-60S configured for AMCM in August 2003.

> Lockheed Martin in Owego, New York is integrating "Block A" AMCM capabilities into the MH-60S aircraft and the AMCM operators' console. Block A AMCM systems operational in 2005 include the ALMDS and the Raytheon AN/AQS-20 mine-hunting sonar. The towed AQS-20 "fish" uses multiple sonars to scan large volumes of ocean quickly and has an electro-optical imaging capability to detect and classify mines in one pass.

Block B capability expected in 2007 introduces the AN/AQS-232 AMNS (Airborne Mine Neutralization System) and RAMICS (the Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance System.) The Lockheed Martin AMNS enables the MH-60S to relocate, identify, and neutralize mines found by the sonar or LIDAR, or by other mine warfare platforms with their detection systems. The hovering helicopter deploys an expendable, self-propelled neutralizer steered to the suspected mine by the MH-60S operator. Mines confirmed by sonar or video are destroyed or detonated with a shaped charge.

The Raytheon RAMICS uses a laser-aimed 30 mm cannon to neutralize near-surface, floating, and shallow-bottom mines. Flat-nosed, super cavitating, high-velocity rounds penetrate the mine case and detonate the mine with a reactive charge.

The Edo Corp. AN/ALQ-220 OASIS (the Organic Airborne and Surface Influence Sweep system) follows in 2008. OASIS combines the acoustic and magnetic mine detonation functions now performed by noisemakers and magnetic sleds in a single towed body. Deployed from the helicopter, it emulates ship signatures in shallow water at speeds up to 40 knots.

The 23,000 lb MH-60S blends the utility airframe of the Army Black Hawk with the marinized dynamics of the Navy Seahawk and shares a common Lockheed Martin cockpit with the multi-sensor MH-60R. Navy plans now call for up to 271 Knighthawks to fly vertical replenishment (underway resupply), strike rescue, Medevac, and other missions from ships at sea. The U.S. Navy MH-60S fleet combat support helicopter passed a significant milestone recently by passing the 50,000 flight hour mark. The MH-60S is currently flying with ship-based detachments from five Navy squadrons located in Guam, San Diego, and Norfolk, Va. Along with the MH-60R, the MH-60S will replace all other US Navy helicopters by 2010.

TOP