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The House Armed Services Committee has voted to delay production of the new Presidential Helicopter Replacement (VXX). The vote was based on the refusal of the DoD Director of Operational Test and Evaluation to approve the test program for the new Marine One. The committee decided to restrict the $936 million in production funding in the next fiscal year until the Navy demonstrates the Lockheed Martin/Agusta Westland team has made significant progress in research and development. The authorization bill should come before the full House of Representatives before the end of May.

The Lockheed Martin US101 still has no official military designator or popular name -- internal Marine Corps documents refer to the VXX as the VH-71 Kestrel. A total buy of 26 Lockheed Martin/Agusta Westland/Bell US101s – three test and 23 production aircraft -- is planned to outfit Marine squadron HMX-1. Planned Initial Operational Capability with four Increment I aircraft is scheduled for Fiscal 2010 and Full Operational Capability with 23 Increment II helicopters in Fiscal 2015.

The HASC vote stems from questions about the Navy's initial claim that Team US101 could meet an accelerated production schedule at a lower cost than Sikorsky Aircraft. When the VXX System Development and Demonstration contract was awarded to Lockheed Martin in January, Navy officials said that the US101 was closer to meeting their specification than the Sikorsky VH-92. Sikorsky supporters in the Connecticut Congressional delegation now argue that the VXX schedule is too ambitious, and a more realistic timescale would have removed the Navy's primary objection to the VH-92. They contend the concurrent test and production programs would risk tax dollars. Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro also advocated language that would bar defense procurements from companies dealing with countries supporting terrorism. AgustaWestland has been accused of dealing with Iran.

In the face of post-9/11 threats, the rapid pace of VXX was set to give future Presidents a modern helicopter with defensive and communications systems sooner. However, the VH-3Ds and VH-60Ns now in the Presidential fleet will complete a survivability upgrade during Fiscal 2005. A communications upgrade to give both aircraft Demand Assigned Multiple Access satellite communications, digital FM, and over-the-horizon HF radio should be completed by Fiscal 2009. A VH-60N cockpit upgrade based on the Rockwell Collins Common Avionics Architecture System will be complete by Fiscal 2012.

Lockheed Martin has meanwhile selected Cuming-Lehman Chambers Inc., to design and build a radio frequency (RF)-shielded anechoic chamber for its new Presidential Helicopter Integration facility in Owego. The chamber will be used by Lockheed Martin to test the Kestrel’s communication equipment and other RF-emitting systems protected from electronic interference. The VH-71 integration facility – including the anechoic chamber – is expected ready by the summer of 2006 in Owego. Construction of the RF chamber will coincide with construction of the new integration facility.

L-3 WESCAM has received a follow-on order from the New York City Police Department for microwave downlink imaging equipment to support homeland security, counter-terrorism, and daily surveillance operations. The new order includes two multi-spectral imaging gimbals -- a WESCAM 12DS200 and MX-15 -- and a portable AzTrack digital microwave receiver. The NYPD now has WESCAM 12DS200 and MX-15 imaging systems, Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (COFDM) digital SkyPod microwave data links, WISARD handheld portable receivers and portable AzTrack receivers.

As part of its post-9/11 upgrade, the NYPD has created seamlessly integrated air-to-ground visual information systems capable of observing large parts of the city day or night, and in and inclement weather. The NYPD helicopter fleet now includes special mission Bell 412s equipped with the MX-15TS imaging system, COFDM digital SkyPod V microwave data link, and an integrated moving map. For standard patrol missions, the NYPD operates AgustaWestland A119 Koalas equipped with the WESCAM 12DS200 gimbal, Digital SkyPod datalink, and an integrated moving map.

The US Department of Defense wants more competition in future rotorcraft procurements and plans to reward Lean Manufacturing and technical innovation in future contracts. The objective is to wean the US rotorcraft industry away from remanufacturing and replacement programs based on legacy aircraft. In a telephone interview, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Industrial Policy Suzanne Patrick said, “We’re not necessarily going back to the same suppliers for the same-type platforms.”

The Vertical Lift Industrial Base: Outlook 2004-2014, a DoD Industrial Policy report released last July, warned that lack of innovation in the US rotorcraft industry could deny warfighters imaginative aircraft concepts. “One of our concerns in the vertical lift industrial base study was the fact that the demand for refurbishment of the existing force or the remanufacturing backlog might not provide a lot of incentives to invest in leading-edge, futuristic technologies because their book of businesses would be quite robust based on yet another wave of combat repairs and remanufacturing. “

The report advocated more competition to spur innovation. To broaden competition, European manufacturers can partner with US prime contractors. “They’re very sound competitors,” says Ms. Patrick, “in very large measure because the Europeans as a group made helicopter manufacturing an industrial base priority in which they’ve invested. . .I also think they can be very important partners for our industry as well as the warfighter.”

The Office of Industrial Policy believes it can compel rotorcraft companies to implement Lean Manufacturing. DoD tours of industry facilities in 2002 found helicopter companies trailing fixed-wing aircraft makers in Lean practices. “Since then, we have observed some remarkable progress in the application of lean manufacturing,” says vertical lift action officer Steve Thompson. “. . .They are moving in the right direction.”

With no fresh-start rotorcraft programs in the near future, the Office of Industrial Policy looks for the US Air Force Personnel Recovery Vehicle (PRV) to provide opportunities for innovation in mission systems, propulsion, and vibration control.

The Financial Times reports executives at EADS, parent of Eurocopter, believe they have been misled by the UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) on their promise to hold an open competition for medium lift helicopters. In March the MoD quietly reached an agreement with AgustaWestland that it would give the Italian-owned helicopter group a formal role in setting the requirements for the UK armed forces' new helicopter program. The agreement, first disclosed by the Financial Times, also gives AgustaWestland a direct role in advising the MoD during the period when defense officials will evaluate rival bids.

Also in March, the MoD selected AgustaWestland's Future Lynx as its choice for its upgraded reconnaissance and maritime attack helicopter - a deal worth about £1billion - without a competition. At the time, government officials said the remaining £2bn in the budget would be open to EADS and Sikorsky for competition. UK MoD officials insist that the AgustaWestland agreement does not preclude a fair competition for future programs, but some are said to be upset that AgustaWestland has been allowed such a wide-ranging role.

The Australian Army has taken delivery of its first two Eurocopter Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters equipped with Lockheed Martin Hellfire II missiles and M299 "smart" launchers. The missile system will complete qualification on the Australian Tiger ARH-1 with live missile firings currently scheduled for April through September. Upon successful completion of these tests, the Hellfire system on the ARH will be deemed fully qualified and cleared for operational missions.

The Australian ARH is derived from the Franco-German Tiger variant. It is armed with Hellfire missiles, 70-mm (2.75-inch) rockets, and a turreted 30-mm gun, as well as an Australia-specific communications and data transmission system. Lockheed Martin and Eurocopter successfully completed a series of launcher and platform integration tests, validating the laser-guided missile and the all-digital M299 launcher system interface with the European helicopter. The integration also allows versions of the Tiger flown in France, Spain and Germany to launch the Hellfire.

India’s DH News Service reports competing Bell 407 and Eurocopter Fennec helicopters will fly a second round of evaluations in Rajasthan and in the Kashmir mountains. The Indian Army Aviation Corps wants new helicopters able to haul up to 75 kg of cargo to troops based at 23,000 feet in Kashmir and on the Siachen Glacier. At stake is an order for 197 light helicopters to replace aging Chetaks (Alouette IIs) and Cheetahs (Alouette IIIs).

The Indian Army plans to buy 60 helicopters outright with the remainder built under license by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The competing aircraft underwent one evaluation at Bhatinda on the Punjab plains last September and another three months later at Leh. Each evaluation included one week flight-testing and three weeks of maintenance trials.

The Kamov Ka 226 was initially ruled out of the contest but has since been granted flight certification. No decision has been made on admitting it to the current competition.

Eurocopter has decided to build a new manufacturing plant in Albacete, Spain under the industrial plan agreed to as part of the Spanish Tiger helicopter procurement. This plant will allow Eurocopter España to implement a full scope helicopter industry based on the TIGER and EC 135 programs, recognized by the National Institutions and the market place, with its own identity. Engineering activities will be based in Getafe to exploit the development and flight test center of EADS-CASA.

Eurocopter will invest more than 60 million euros in the facility over the next 10 years.

Eurocopter Opens Large Blade Facility

Eurocopter has inaugurated its AGP - a new facility dedicated to producing large composite helicopter blades - at the plant in La Courneuve, France. The Eurocopter plant at La Courneuve principally specializes in the design, manufacture, and repair of helicopter blades, and also provides the associated support services: composite blades for the EC120, Ecureuil, Dauphin, Super Puma, and NH90 helicopters. The modular AGP with its high-performance molding equipment will make main rotor blades for the NH90, Super Puma/EC225, and Cougar/EC725 helicopters. It can also be adapted to new blade designs.

The air conditioned AGP workshop has a 3,000 m² work area and is capable of producing 4 blades per day (three times more than previously available). It is organized along product lines to share non-destructive test and numerical control equipment and common processes. Efforts have been made at to improve the working environments and ergonomics at workstations. A new dust extraction system has also been implemented at the site with a central unit connected to a network of extractors at each work station. Dedicated blade handling equipment will assist the flow of blade production.

Alongside blades, the La Courneuve plant also produces predominantly composite structures, such as fairings for the Dauphin and upper cowlings for the Super Puma.

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Apache Arrowhead Delivered

Team Apache Systems LLC delivered the first Arrowhead Modernized Target Acquisition and Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) for the AH-64 Apache helicopter during the Army Aviation Association of America's national convention in Orlando, FL. Arrowhead improves performance and reliability of the legacy TADS more than 150%, reduces maintenance actions nearly 60%, and supports two-level field maintenance. Projected savings for the US Army will approach $1 billion over the anticipated 20-year lifespan of the MTADS/NVS.

Arrowhead will be installed on AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters both in the field and in production at The Boeing Company's Mesa, AZ, facility. Team Apache Systems (TAS) is a limited liability company comprised of

Lockheed Martin Millimeter Technologies Inc., and McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems (an indirect subsidiary of The Boeing Company). Major

subcontractors to TAS are Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando,

Florida, producers of the current generation TADS/PNVS system, and The Boeing Mesa, makers of the AH-64 Apache.

The Republic of Korea has chosen the Sikorsky S-92 to be its new presidential transport helicopter. Sikorsky Aircraft will deliver three VIP-configured S-92s to the Korean government beginning in 2007. The S-92 was selected over the Agusta-Westland EH-101 in the VH-X competition conducted by the Korean Ministry of National Defense. The Korean Broadcast System reported a ministry spokesman saying both aircraft met minimum operational requirements, but the S-92 scored higher in the comprehensive evaluation. The VH-X contract is worth US$126.7 million. The Korean government has flown BLACK HAWK helicopters in support of the presidential mission for more than a decade.

In addition to Korea, the S-92 has been chosen by three other nations for either head-of- state or VVIP missions within the past year: Turkey is under contract for one head-of-state S-92; Turkmenistan is under contract for two head-of-state S-92s; and Gulf Helicopters of Qatar is under contract for one S-92 helicopter to fly VVIP missions.

To date, Sikorsky has orders for more than 60 S-92s from military, commercial, offshore oil and executive transport customers worldwide, making it the most successful commercial helicopter launch in the company's history. The orders include 28 military H-92s ordered under the Canadian Maritime Helicopter Project.

Bell Helicopter has flown a lightweight, low-cost composite horizontal stabilizer manufactured by Fiber Innovations of Walpole, Massachusetts. The one-piece, constant section graphite/bismaleimide (BMI) stabilizer flown on the Model 407 Modular Affordable Product Line helicopter was fabricated using braiding, hand layup, and Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) to achieve significant cost reductions. Compared with a conventional composite structure, the advanced production process reduced parts count and subassemblies, and associated surface preparation, bonding, and inspection.

The 17 pound, 11 square foot fixed stabilizer is a multi-cell box beam structure with four full-span internal spars. It is attached to the aircraft by four bolts and has provisions for the attachment of a leading edge slat and two vertical tip fins. The spars are produced by automated tri-axial braiding, where bias-ply AS4 graphite fibers in the shear webs are machine-braided over four mandrels at high speed simultaneous with the placement of the uni-axial fibers in the spar caps. The braided mandrels form four box beams, and they provide skin thickness taper to match the span-wise load distribution.

Internal bushing blocks are molded into the stabilizer to carry attachment loads at four central bolt locations. Similarly, a molded channel is provided at the leading edge to accommodate a nut plate strip used for slat attachment. The braided mandrels are over-wrapped with woven biaxial and unidirectional fabric to form the stabilizer skin, including local buildups as needed. Flanges for the attachment of the tip planes are integral with the skin.

The entire fiber pre-form assembly is resin transfer molded in a closed cavity mold using Cytec 5250-4 one-part BMI resin. The high temperature resin enables the stabilizer to endure engine exhaust temperatures encountered in portions of the rotor downwash. The mandrels are split at the stabilizer centerline to facilitate extraction after molding. After trim, drill, and inspection of the molded unit, the tip planes and leading edge slat are mechanically fastened and the unit is ready for airframe installation.

Before the innovative stabilizer was flown on the Bell 407, extensive static and fatigue testing verified the structural integrity of the design. Static testing on the stabilizer was performed at 200°F in an environmental chamber to simulate humidity conditions. The stabilizer was successfully tested to 390% of Design Ultimate Load.

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