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Bell Helicopter has received an order from the Naval Air Systems Command for 24 turned exhaust kits to outfit AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopters. The turned infrared exhaust suppressor will enhance the survivability of the basic SuperCobra in the face of infrared-seeking surface-to-air missiles, and it remedies structural issues arising in development of the AH-1Z attack and UH-1Y utility helicopters. Initial kit deliveries should be complete by December 2005.

Though AH-1Ws have long used the General Electric T700-GE-401 engines, analysis of the new AH-1Z and UH-1Y tail booms showed the hotter exhaust of -401C engines working harder on heavier aircraft annealed tail boom longerons, stringers, and skins. The "turned" suppressors use the off-the-shelf General Electric Hover Infrared Suppressor System (HIRSS) to dilute and cool the exhaust plume and direct it away from aircraft structure.

The new suppressors were first flown on an AH-1Z test aircraft in June.

Bell Helicopter, Lockheed Martin, AAI, and Textron Systems have

signed a formal Team Eagle Eye Core Team agreement to develop, produce and market the tilt rotor Vertical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VUAV) system. The Eagle Eye System includes air vehicles, ground control equipment, payloads, communications, and integrated logistics support.

Under the agreement, Bell will be responsible for overall system performance and program management as well as air vehicle design, development, production, flight-testing and delivery.

Lockheed Martin will provide advanced technology expertise, prototyping services, network-centric knowledge, and low-cost composite fabrication capability. AAI Corporation will supply its One System joint, common ground

equipment and required integration expertise. Textron Systems Corporation will provide specialized tilt rotor UAV weapons payloads.

The preliminary design of the Eagle Eye is based on the 7/8 scale HV-911 proof-of-concept demonstrator that flew over 90 hours, and achieved 200 knots in level cruise with a 210 pound payload. Under its Deepwater modernization initiative, the US Coast Guard plans 69 operational Eagle Eye VUAVs (tentatively RQ-10s) to operate from National Security Cutters and land bases. First flight of the Coast Guard risk reduction prototype is expected in late 2005 or early 2006, and Bell is building a marketing demonstrator simultaneously.

The US Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD) at Fort Eustis, Virginia is validating an installation kit for the Brownout Situational Awareness Upgrade (BSAU) on the UH-60 Black Hawk. The BSAU is a ground velocity reference system meant to prevent landing mishaps in blowing dust (brownout) or snow (white-out) conditions. Brown-outs have been blamed for several helicopter mishaps in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, and production installations will depend upon requests from field commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan and subsequent funding.

The Block I BSAU interfaces a Rockwell Collins MFD-255M multi-function display with the Honeywell Plus 429 EGI (Embedded GPS Inertial) navigator, and the aircraft radar altimeter and directional gyro. The MFD replaces the standard horizontal situation indicator and shows the crew digital ground velocity, analog vertical velocity, digital and analog radar altimeter, and analog heading symbology. In blowing snow or dust, the head-down display gives the Black Hawk or Chinook crew ground cues similar to those in the AH-64 Apache. Hover box symbology is available to help hold a fixed position.

Utility and cargo helicopter crews now flying approaches in dusty areas rely on crewchiefs to announce when dust clouds engulf the tail, cabin, and cockpit of their helicopters. Relatively high forward velocity is required at touchdown to keep the cockpit ahead of the cloud. With the Block I BSAU, both pilots would transition to the head-down display at 20 to 30 feet when dust is at the tail and make a 6- to 8-knot landing. According to AATD project officer and experimental test pilot Major David Wolons, "Now they're trying to outrun the cloud. This allows you to slow down, and you still have situational awareness on approach."

Sponsored by the utility and cargo program managers in the Army Aviation and Missile Command, the BSAU concluded three weeks of successful flight tests on UH-60 and CH-47 helicopters at the Yuma Proving Grounds in July. AATD engineers integrated hardware and developed symbology for the demonstration with support from Sikorsky and Boeing technicians. Rockwell, Honeywell, and EFW provided demonstration software. The Block I system completed flight tests and electromagnetic compatibility testing at Fort Rucker, and the UH-60 package is being validated at Fort Eustis. Validation work on the CH-47 is on hold pending funding.

The Block I BSAU can include the EFW day and night Head-Up Display (HUD) systems. A Block II demonstration continues, including FLIRSystems infrared cameras on the tail and cargo hook of the Black Hawk to help the pilot and crew chief control sling loads in blowing dust or snow. Block II experiments may include long-wave FLIR and 94 GHz millimeter wave radar. A Block III BSAU may be tied to the digital Automatic Flight Control System on the new CH-47F and the cyclic hover hold on the UH-60M to further reduce crew workload.

Under the Brown-Out Precision Landing System Demonstration, AATD also evaluated the Guided Launch and Recovery System (G-LARS) from Sierra Nevada Corporation.

The Government of Canada has announced the selection of the Sikorsky Aircraft-led Maritime Helicopter Team to replace the CH-124 Sea King helicopters of the Canadian Forces with 28 new H-92 Superhawks. Sikorsky Aircraft in Connecticut joined with General Dynamics Canada in Ottowa for the H-92 Integrated Mission System including a totally Canadian Mission Data Management System. L-3 MAS Canada, based in Mirabel, Quebec, will provide long-term in-service support for the Canadian Forces over the next 20 years. The first helicopter will be delivered in 2008.

Canada's new H-92s will be multi-mission shipborne helicopters assigned anti-submarine warfare, surveillance, and a wide range of utility roles including Search and Rescue, cargo and personnel transport, and disaster relief support. General Dynamics Canada is the country's largest defense electronics supplier and Canada's leading systems integrator.

Canada's Sea Kings have participated in a range of international maritime actions, despite long-running concerns about their safety and availability. The (then) Royal Canadian Navy was the first international customer to take delivery of the S-61/HSS-2 Sea King, replacing the Sikorsky HO4S-3 in the ASW role. The first four CHSS-2s were completed in Connecticut and flown to Canada in May 1963. Thirty-seven subsequent aircraft were assembled from Sikorsky kits by United Aircraft of Canada Ltd. (now Pratt &Whitney Canada) at Longueuil, Quebec. A single large squadron, HS-50 at Shearwater, was fully equipped by 1964 and put Sea King detachments on ships supporting NATO ASW forces. In 1974, HS-50 was decommissioned and its aircraft assigned to 423 and 443 Squadrons of the unified Canadian Forces.

Canada first selected the Agusta Westland EH101 as its New Shipborne Aircraft, but the NSA program was cancelled by newly-elected Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in 1993. In the follow-on Maritime Helicopter Program, the Sikorsky H-92 team was selected over an AgustaWestland team proposing another version of the EH-101 Cormorant now in Search And Rescue service with the Canadian Forces. A Lockheed Martin/NH Industries consortium NH-90 proposal was declared non-compliant with competition requirements. The order marks the first government order for the H-92.

The first Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) CH-47F Chinook was officially delivered by Boeing Philadelphia to the US Army in mid-July. It will be flown to the Aviation Technical Test Command (ATTC) at Fort Rucker, Alabama. ATTC will operate and maintain the aircraft until it is modified with the Rockwell Collins Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) Cockpit Engineering Change Proposal (ECP) and other minor enhancements. The so-called F-CAAS ECP replaces the less ambitious integrated cockpit initially planned for the cargo Chinook with the CAAS developed for the Special Operations MH-47G. Two CH-47F Engineering Manufacturing and Development (EMD) aircraft remain at Fort Rucker. Due to the priority given the Special Operations fleet, the next production CH-47F is not scheduled for delivery until September 2006.

The first LRIP CH-47F will be returned to Boeing this fall to receive ECP modifications. The modified LRIP aircraft will become the test platform for the F-CAAS during the second phase of operational testing now scheduled for the third quarter of Fiscal 2006. The First Unit Equipped with the CH-47F should be fully trained and equipped by June 2007. The Army has received authorization for seven new-built CH-47Fs to offset attrition, and Boeing will transition the CH-47D/F remanufacturing line to all-new airframes in Lot 3 in 2006. The Army has funded 185 new and remanufactured CH-47Fs in the current Program Objective Memorandum and plans a modernized fleet of 300 CH-47Fs.

Metal Storm Limited plans to fly its electronically-fired ballistic weapon system on a Dragonfly DP-4X Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) in August or September. The innovative, lightweight weapons technology was demonstrated in tethered UAV firing trials in May at Warren, Grove, New Jersey. Company-sponsored flight demonstrations will use Warren Grove or the Picatinny Arsenal ranges also in New Jersey. Dragonfly Pictures Inc. in Essington, Pennsylvania, is developing the DP-4X as a candidate Class II UAV for the US Army's Future Combat System.

Originated with the Defense Science and Technology Organization in Australia, Metal Storm technology loads successive munitions in tandem and fires them inductively, with no moving parts or mechanical linkages. Company chief executive officer Chuck Vehlow notes, "One of the real advantages of our system offers is the weight of the system is primarily the weight of the ammunition." The DP-4X has a 50 lb payload, and the tethered demonstration used two four-tube launchers to disperse munitions over a 100 to 200 yard pattern. Each tube contained four 40 mm rounds. The flying demonstration is expected to use a four-cartridge reloadable configuration.

In a UAV application, Metal Storm tubes could be arranged to fire horizontally like conventional weapons or vertically to defeat Improvised Explosive Devices buried in roadways. Rounds for the tethered demonstration were flash-bang munitions like those used for crowd control. Metal Storm plans to introduce a high explosive round shortly, and the launch system can mix rounds in the same tube or multiple tubes in any arrangement. Mr. Vehlow explains, "You give the commander the capability to electronically select not only the munition, but the capability -- how he wants to engage -- and the rate of fire. . .That's all done; network-centrically." Metal Storm has found high-level interest in the concept with the US Defense Advanced Projects Agency and is working under a Small Business Innovative Research contract on using the technology on an airship for missile defense.

Advanced Technologies Inc. (ATI) and the US Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD) have integrated an in-flight control station for the Vigilante UAV aboard a UH-1 Huey at Fort Eustis, Virginia. Integration testing of the control station starts in late July, and phased flight tests build up to manned/unmanned teaming demonstrations with the armed VTOL UAV testbed. Plans call for live rocket firings from the UAV under airborne control at Yuma Proving Grounds by the end of 2004.

The 170 lb control station installed in the Huey is a crashworthy modification of the Vigilante ground control station normally carried by a pickup truck or trailer. Fixed antennas are attached to the Huey gun mounts, and a commercial datalink is expected to extend airborne control out to 20 miles or more. "The guy in the back of the Huey will have complete control of the air vehicle as well as the mission payload package," says ATI project manager Kevin McGonigle. Embedded simulation capability in the ground station will verify airborne control modes before first flight of the manned/unmanned team.

The Vigilante unmanned helicopter has flown in various configurations since 1999. It has demonstrated autonomous control with automatic return-to-base and GPS waypoint navigation. Under a Technology Investment Agreement with AATD, the VTOL UAV flew in early July with an L3 WESCAM 12 DS sensor gimbal with FLIR, TV, and laser designator/rangefinder. The demonstration package includes a four-tube launcher for laser-guided Low Cost Precision Kill rockets.

With the first production aircraft flown at Stratford, Connecticut on 14 June, Sikorsky continues preparations for the first S-92 customer delivery to Petroleum Helicopters, Inc. by mid-summer. PHI crews scheduled for operational missions are training in the FlightSafety simulator at West Palm Beach, Florida, and spare parts, publications, and support equipment are in place. The second production helicopter is also earmarked for PHI, but other than announced orders from Norsk and CHC, Sikorsky will not identify current customers.

Sikorsky now claims 25 firm S-92 sales and 30 options/deposit agreements. Base plans call for 12 aircraft to be delivered this year and 15 aircraft per year subsequently. The manufacturer claims production slots for the first two years are nearly sold out. The S-92 assembly line in Bridgeport, Connecticut uses flexible tooling concepts to ramp-up production as justified by sales. The line can also be replicated in multiple sites to suit market demand.

The first production S-92 is being delivered to PHI in a standard offshore oil configuration with a 19-place airline-style interior and airstair door. Avionics and other equipment specifics are confidential to the customer. However, Sikorsky recently made the Honeywell Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems (EGPWS) standard equipment to help pilots avoid controlled flight into terrain. The basic S-92 also comes with a laptop computer configured as a Health Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) groundstation and maintenance management platform. S-92-unique software facilitates maintenance management and provides an integrated interface with technical publications and Sikorsky Internet services.

The Sikorsky Worldwide Customer Service organization is meanwhile implementing systems to capture and use HUMS data from the first operational aircraft. Combined data from the, bearing monitors, maintenance data computers, and maintenance management systems will electronically flow to Sikorsky for real-time analysis and action.

Sikorsky continues some envelope expansion tests with its three flying S-92 prototypes through the remainder of 2004. None of the prototypes represents the full production configuration, but each production feature is flying on one of the test aircraft. Rotor Ice Protection certification is expected before December. On June 8, Sikorsky's S-92 became the first helicopter certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency/Joint Aviation Authorities (EASA/JAA) to the latest and most rigorous safety standards. The Joint Aviation Requirements (JAR) are the European counterpart of the USA-based FAR, with similar safety regulations. The S-92 remains the only helicopter in the world certified by the FAA to FAR Part 29 Transport Rotorcraft, Amendment 47, the latest U.S. safety regulations. Transport Canada approval is scheduled for this summer.

Bell Helicopter reached separate agreements in late June with Korea Aerospace Industries, Ltd (KAI) and Mitsui Bussan Aerospace Company Ltd. to develop, certify, produce, and market the eight-seat, twin-engined Model 427i for the global market. Bell will lead the design of the new single-pilot IFR light helicopter and will integrate the aircraft in either Texas or Canada. However, the agreement gives KAI development and production responsibility for the fuselage, cabin wiring, and fuel system. Mitsui Bussan is a financial backer.

Bell has retained design leadership for the 427i glass cockpit with Rogerson Krato multi-function displays, Garmin 430 GPS navigator, and a three- (optional four-) axis autopilot. Bell is also developing the Aircraft Data Interface Unit that monitors and logs engine performance, runs power assurance and hover performance checks, and performs weight and balance calculations automatically.

The new 7,000 lb helicopter is expected to receive FAA certification during the fourth quarter of 2006, and initial deliveries are expected in the last quarter of 2007. Bell claims 42 orders signed and 20 more expected by the end of the year.

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