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EADS North America Pitches UH-145 for LUH

EADS North America and its American Eurocopter business unit will offer the UH-145 for the U.S. Army’s Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) requirement. The UH-145 is a version of the EC145 in production since 2002 for law enforcement, paramilitary agencies, emergency medical services, and offshore oil and corporate operators. EADS North America will lead the “capture effort” and act as the prime contractor. Production of the UH-145 will be performed in the United States by American Eurocopter. The company has production and assembly sites in Columbus, Mississippi and Grand Prairie, Texas.

The LUH competition now pits the twin-engined EC-145 and Lockheed Martin/MDHI MDExplorer against the single-engined Bell Model 210 Huey. The Army Aviation and Missile Command expects to buy 322 helicopters from Fiscal 2006 to Fiscal 2012. The requirements are aimed at a civil-certified off-the-shelf helicopter that can be used by National Guard and Active Army units in the Continental United States and deployed in non-combat theaters. A Request For Proposals is expected later this year.

Designed for high operational availability and low operating costs, the 7,900 lb UH-145 accommodates up to nine passengers or two stretchers in an easily-reconfigured main cabin with sliding side and clamshell rear doors. It has a VEMD (Vehicle and Engine Management Display) in an NVG-compatible glass cockpit to increase situational awareness and reduce crew workload. Redundant hydraulic, electrical, and engine control systems and a crashworthy airframe and seats are meant to provide high safety and survivability. A hingeless composite rotor system decreases vibration and noise.

Hummingbird Demonstration

Boeing subsidiary Frontier Systems Inc. received a $49,950,000 contract from the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division at Patuxent River Maryland for an Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) of the A-160 Hummingbird Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to assess the military utility and affordability of a long-range VTOL UAV employing a wide variety of adaptable payloads. Work will be performed in Irvine, Calif., and is expected to be completed in August 2008.

Sikorsky Defines CH-53 HLR

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. received a $43 million contract from the Naval Air Systems Command to perform requirements definition and engineering studies for the US Marine Corps’ Heavy Lift Replacement (HLR) program. The Marines received 180 CH-53Es from 1981 to 1999, and the 147 remaining aircraft average 17 years old. Fatigue will make a significant impact on fleet availability around 2011.

An Analysis of Alternatives completed in September 2003 found the best Heavy Lift Replacement to upgrade the Marine fleet and meet growing requirements would be a new-build CH-53X. Requirements work should be completed in April 2006. Current plans call for 156 aircraft. With a first flight in 2011, the Heavy Lift Replacement can achieve Initial Operational Capability in Fiscal 2015 and Full Operational Capability by Fiscal 2021.

Boeing Turns Over First Kuwaiti AH-64D

The U.S. government, formally accepted the first AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter built for the Government of Kuwait in August. The aircraft is the first of 16 Apaches on for Kuwait. The aircraft will remain in the United States until next year for qualification testing.

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense initially signed a letter of offer and acceptance with the DoD in 2002, making Kuwait the seventh international defense force to select the AH-64D and the 11th Apache customer worldwide. Maintenance personnel from Kuwait are currently in the U.S. for training and will be followed by Kuwaiti pilots later this year. No firm in-country delivery schedule or contract details have been announced.

The US Congressional notification of the AH-64D Foreign Military Sale included eight AN/APG-78 Longbow Fire Control Radars,96 Longbow HELLFIRE AGM-114L3 and 288 HELLFIRE AGM-114K3 missiles, 10,916 Hydra-70 rockets, 30mm ammunition, four spare T700-701C GE engines, one spare Target Acquisition Designation Sight, and support equipment.

Sikorsky Gets UH-60M Fly-By-Wire Contract

Sikorsky Aircraft was awarded a contract from the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command for Fly-By-Wire (FBW) flight control system detail design work in connection with the UH-60M Upgrade. Work will be performed in Stratford, Connecticut, and should be completed by the end of 2006. First flight tests are scheduled for 2007.

Hamilton Sundstrand announced in June that it had been selected to supply advanced fly-by-wire flight control computers and primary actuators for Mike-model Black Hawk. The new flight control system promises reduced weight, lower life cycle costs, better performance, and higher reliability than traditional flight controls. Hamilton Sundstrand will provide the FBW computers and Claverham Limited, a U.K.-based business unit, will provide main rotor actuators.

Air Methods Delivers Third FIREHAWK to L.A. County Fire Department

Air Methods Corporation Products Division has delivered the third Sikorsky FIREHAWKTM to the L.A. County Fire Department. The modified S-70A made 70 water drops on two separate fires during its first day in service. It joined two FIREHAWKsTM that have been in operation with the L.A. County Fire Department since 2001 performing more than 8,000 missions.

The 23,000 lb helicopter is equipped to deliver 1,000 gallons of water from a belly tank filled through a retractable snorkel. Air Methods provided the multi-mission FIREHAWK system and integrated a glass cockpit and additional navigation and communications systems. The aircraft is outfitted with Air Methods’ multi-mode pilot control system which allows the pilot to manage all of the systems for firefighting, rescue, or external cargo missions with hands on the flight controls.

Bell To Build Armed Recon Helicopters In Canada

As winner of the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter competition, Bell Helicopter will build 368 new US Army aircraft at its commercial production facility in Mirabel, Canada. Mission-specific systems will be integrated by Bell at an existing Texas site still to be determined. “It’s a very accelerated production schedule,” says Bell ARH program manager John Ricciardelli. “We ramp-up very quickly and deliver 368 aircraft in about six years.”

ARH plans call for the first of four test aircraft to fly in the first quarter of 2006. Development testing runs through the 1st quarter of Fiscal 2007. A Limited User Test with Army pilots in August 2006 will precede a Low Rate Initial Production Decision in the first quarter of 2007. ARH deliveries start in October 2007 to achieve Initial Operational Capability at the beginning of 2008 and stretch through 2013 to match retirement plans for the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior.

The Army has yet to give the new Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter a formal designation, but the aircraft starts as a modest development of the commercial Bell 407 with the more powerful Honeywell HTS900 engine and the higher-authority tail rotor of the Model 427 light twin. Prime contractor Bell will integrate a glass cockpit based on the Rockwell Collins Common Avionics Architecture System, a Brite Star II sensor gimbal from FLIRSystems Inc., and a modern aircraft survivability suite. The new engine will have an exhaust infrared suppressor. The chin-mounted sensor with FLIR, TV, and laser is derived from that on the modernized Bell UH-1Y.

The ARH will retain the Bell 407 main transmission and main rotor system but will increase gross weight to 5,650 lb. Structural enhancements will include a “beefed-up” tail boom, and reinforcements around the engine, transmission, and crewseats to enhance crashworthiness over the OH-58D. The ballistically tolerant fuel system will include composite backing to prevent “petaling” in the self-sealing cells. Armored seats modified from the OH-58D Safety Enhancement Program will provide energy attenuation in a crash. Weapons mounts will carry the Hellfire missiles, rockets, and gunpods already used by the OH-58D.

Bell chose FlightSafety International to provide the ARH training devices, and the helicopter manufacturer will generate courseware for the training program. The aircraft prime contractor is also providing data to CSC and L3 Communications to incorporate the new Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter in the Flight School XXI training scheme and Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer.

First New MH-60R To Begin Systems Integration

The first new-build Sikorsky MH-60R multi-mission naval helicopter will fly to Lockheed Martin System Integration facilities after a formal ceremony in mid-August. The new multi-mission naval helicopter first flew for 1.5 hours at Sikorsky Stratford plant on July 28 and performed flight control checks, vibration measurements, and engine power checks. MH-60R test aircraft successfully completed a six-month Navy Technical Evaluation in February and have been in Operational Evaluation (OPEVAL) since May. OPEVAL is the aircraft's final test phase before fleet introduction and delivery.

The Navy now plans 254 MH-60Rs to replace SH-60B and F-model Seahawks. Early plans to remanufacture SH-60Bs, Fs, and Hs into MH-60Rs gave way to all-new aircraft with glass cockpits, dipping sonar, multi-mode radar, Electronic Support Measures, an electro-optical gimbal, and provisions for Hellfire air-to-surface missiles. The MH-60R should deploy with the MH-60S in a mixed carrier air wing in early 2009.

Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin are co-prime contractors on the Romeo-model Seahawk. Sikorsky Aircraft is responsible for the air vehicle including the mechanical and electrical modifications for mission equipment. Lockheed Martin is the mission systems integrator and provides the digital cockpit common to the MH-60R and S.

Lockheed Martin Teams With MDHI For LUH

Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, New York has joined with MD Helicopters Inc. to propose the twin-engined MDExplorer for the US Army’s Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) competition. As prime contractor, Lockheed Martin will oversee MDExplorer production, system integration, and contractor logistics support over the life cycle of the aircraft. Air Vehicle engineering will be largely an MDHI responsibility with Lockheed Martin oversight. Significantly, Lockheed Martin expects to bring Lean Manufacturing disciplines to a large-scale program at the MDHI manufacturing facilities in Mesa, Arizona. “MDHelicopters is not experienced with government contracts,” observes Dan Rice, Lockheed Martin director of multi-mission solutions. “We’re going to help them with best business practices.”

The Army utility helicopter program office wants an IFR-certified LUH that can deploy in permissive, non-combat environments and expects 322 aircraft to be delivered from Fiscal 2006 to Fiscal 2015. Bell Helicopter has certificated the Model 210 Huey, and other manufacturers may be preparing their utility-configured aircraft for a Request For Proposals later this year. A flyoff of LUH contenders is expected in the October-November timeframe.

Lockheed Martin believes the proven MDExplorer provides an attractive mix of cabin and cockpit space, crashworthiness, and NOTAR safety to meet Army requirements. “I think the initial configuration of the platform is going to be very similar to the current FAA-certified helicopter,” says Lockheed Martin program manager Adam Miller. “Downstream, there may be some growth provisions. You may see LUH employed in some other missions.”

With new funding from the controlling Patriarch Partners, LLC, in New York, the financially-troubled MDHI is expected to resume MDExplorer production, and Lockheed Martin hopes to leverage the existing vendor network. “We’re currently evaluating the supply chain with MDHelicopters and moving forward with the expectations for LUH,” says Mr. Miller.

Lockheed Martin plans to have engineers resident in Mesa to address LUH air vehicle issues. “We don’t think the number of problems will be nearly as intensive as they might have been for a brand-new helicopter design,” says Mr. Miller.

The current MDExplorer uses Pratt & Whitney 207E engines. Lockheed Martin will not discuss alternative powerplant suppliers or other possible members of its LUH team, nor will it comment on the possible role played by the New York Senate and Congressional delegations and other political forces in the “best-value” competition.