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Boeing Mesa has received a one-year contract from the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command to complete detail design and fabricate tooling for new all-composite main rotor blades to further modernize the AH-64D Apache. A follow-on contact in 2006 is expected to yield qualification blades leading to production for the Block III Apache Longbow.

Initially designed to reduce Apache operating and support costs, the new composite blades will have the same 21 in. chord of the current metal-sparred blades, but incorporate advanced airfoils for enhanced performance. In back-to-back tests with the standard main rotor, early composite test blades increased the speed of the AH-64D by 6.5 kt and service ceiling by 2,000 ft. Boeing Engineering Systems Integrator, Syd Austin explains, "The tests showed we'd gotten pretty much what we wanted - which was better high-hot performance." Refined with flight test results, the production blade will combine a graphite-glass box spar, glass skins, steel leading edge erosion strip, electroformed nickel tip cap, and titanium root fittings.

The first fleet HH-65C Dolphin re-engined with Turbomeca Arriel 2C2-CG engines will go to the U.S. Coast Guard Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Alabama in October. Plans call for the remaining 95 HH-65A/Bs to be upgraded to HH-65C standards by 2007 with the first operational Search-and-Rescue aircraft expected at Coast Guard Station Atlantic City, New Jersey this December.

The first HH-65C conversion was completed and tested at the Coast Guard Aircraft Repair and Supply Center in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS), a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman Corporation, says other conversion facilities may assist Elizabeth City for the rest of the fleet pending Coast Guard funding and Dolphin pipeline issues. Expected conversion time is 66 working days for each HH-65B upgrade, and somewhat longer for the HH-65As.

A test Dolphin first flew with Arriel engines in place of the current Lycoming/Honeywell LTS-101-750 turboshafts in May 2003. The fleet-wide re-engining program was undertaken this year at the direction of the U.S. Coast Guard by ICGS. Coast Guard dissatisfaction with the LTS101-750 turboshaft launched the rapid re-engining effort in advance of the broader HH-65X recapitalization still planned under the Coast Guard's omnibus Deepwater Initiative. The HH-65X Multi-Mission Cutter Helicopter upgrade with new mission avionics and airframe improvements is expected to start in 2005, depending on funding. The HH-65X modernization will involve ICGS, Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and Sensors, American Eurocopter, and Turbomeca USA.

With re-engining, Dolphin weights increase from 6,310 lb empty weight and 9,200 maximum gross for the HH-65B to 6,362 lb empty and 9,480 lb maximum gross for the HH-65C. The re-engined aircraft nevertheless remains restricted to 8,900 lb for shipboard operations by its landing gear. The HH-65X includes landing gear and airframe modifications to increase allowable shipboard weights.

The HH-65C engine modification kit includes a heat shield to protect the tail boom from the exhaust heat of the more powerful engines, and the transmission of the AS365N4 Dauphin to accommodate the increased power of the Arriel 2C2 engine. While the existing gearbox cannot handle the maximum two-engine transient power or One Engine Inoperative ratings of the new engines, the N4 main gearbox provides sufficient margin in all operating regimes including hover out of ground effect.

   HMH-465 Receives Award

Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465(HMH-465) has received The Keith B. McCutcheon Award for their achievements in Marine Corps aviation. The annual awarded is presented by the Marine Corps Aviation Association in recognition of outstanding achievements by a heavy lift helicopter squadron. The Sikorsky CH-53E's of HMH-465 transported 4,300 Marines and about 3.5 million lb of equipment in 36,000 mishap-free hours. The Warhorses also deployed twice to Iraq in the past year-and-a-half, each deployment requiring them to break down and rebuild eight aircraft in about two weeks.

After returning from the first Operation Iraqi Freedom deployment (OIF I), the Warhorses deployed to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa, Japan in November and December of last year. They were in Japan less than two months when the squadron was ordered back to Iraq in January and February of 2004. The main mission for the CH-53Es in Iraq was hauling external and internal loads to forward operating bases. The squadron will deploy to OIF III in February 2005.

U.S. Marine Corps Heavy Helicopter Squadron-461 at MCAS New River has become the first fleet squadron to install a new Ballistic Protection System (BPS) on the Sikorsky CH-53E. Designed to protect the Super Stallion from 7.62mm rounds and blast fragments, the BPS consists of 37 steel-and-Kevlar armor plates in the cockpit and cabin and adds about 1,500 pounds to the aircraft. The Naval Air Systems Command says armor was necessitated by the increasing use of the heavy-lift CH-53E in forward tactical situations. The first training installations were carried out on two aircraft supporting Marine operations in the Horn of Africa.

The BPS was developed specifically for the CH-53E by Protective Materials Company in Miami Lake, Florida. To date, six depot-modified aircraft have been deployed to Operation Enduring Freedom and 22 of 24 aircraft in Operation Iraqi Freedom have been equipped. The system costs approximately $96,000 per aircraft including A-kit fixtures and B-kit armor. Marine Corps Headquarters appropriated $7.3 million to buy 149 A-Kits and 61 B-kits. The BPS is designed to be installed at the squadron maintenance level. The A-kit can be installed in six to nine hours and the armor mission kit in one hour.

HMH-461 also recently deployed CH-53Es to the Horn of Africa sporting a new Ramp-Mounted Weapons System that uses the GAU-21 .50-cal machine gun to protect the aircraft's rear hemisphere.

     UH-1Y Test Aircraft Completes Modifications

In preparation for its Marine Corps' Operational Evaluation (OPEVAL) in the spring of 2005, one of the five H-1 Upgrade test aircraft - the second UH-1Y - has completed its last block modifications to production-representative configuration. The Block Modification D removed flight test instrumentation and installed the new H-1 "turned" infrared exhaust suppressors and other structural and system upgrades.

Block D modifications and fire suppression re-testing on UH-1Y-2 were completed almost a week ahead of schedule. Two AH-1Zs and the other UH-1Y will undergo the same modifications. The original AH-1Z is slated for destructive live fire testing when the other aircraft start OPEVAL.

To date, the H-1 Upgrade Integrated Test Team has logged approximately 2,500 flight test hours with three AH-1Z and two UH-1Y test aircraft. The test aircraft have achieved 222 knots maximum speed, maneuvered from -0.4 to +3.5 G, and exceeded 10,000 ft altitude. In weapons tests, the AH-1Z has fired nearly 800 Mk-66 70 mm rockets, five AGM-114 "Hellfire" anti-armor missiles, three AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, and around 3,000 rounds of 20mm ammunition. The UH-1Y has successfully fired approximately 400 2.75-inch rockets, 12,800 rounds of machine gun ammunition, 136 flares, 104 chaff canisters, and 104 RF decoys.

   A160 Hummingbird Resumes Flight Testing

The A160 Hummingbird Unmanned Aerial Vehicle resumed flight testing at an airfield near Victorville, California on September 17. The successful 80-minute test included both hovering and forward flight. The A160 joined the Boeing line of UAVs with the acquisition of Frontiers Systems Inc. in May.

Developed under a DARPA contract, the A160 is an unmanned helicopter designed to fly 2,500 nautical miles with endurance in excess of 24 hours and a payload of more than 300 pounds. The autonomous UAV is 35 feet long with a 36-foot rotor diameter and will fly at up to140 knots and 30,000 feet.

The most recent test flights were to expand the A160s flight envelope by operating at different main rotor speeds. Engineers are currently analyzing the flight data to determine objectives for the next series of test flights.

Boeing Phantom Works will complete initial development of the Hummingbird and then transfer the program to Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) for further development and production. The A160 may fly reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, communication relay, and precision re-supply missions.

   RESET Apache Returns

Boeing has delivered the first AH-64A Apache refurbished under the Army's Reset program two days ahead of schedule and on-budget. Reset restores aircraft returning from overseas deployments to re-deployable condition. The first Apache delivered had sustained damage and wear after operating in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo.

Boeing is repairing 15 aircraft, both AH-64As AH-64Ds, under the Reset program. The work is performed at the Boeing Williams Gateway modification facility in Mesa, Arizona, with support from the nearby Boeing Mesa production facility.

   Northrop Grumman Demonstrates UCAR Technology

In flights tests on a company-owned Yamaha R-MAX unmanned helicopter,

Northrop Grumman has successfully demonstrated key elements of the Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) autonomous vehicle management system. The vehicle management system hardware and software will allow the UCAR system to operate autonomously but in cooperation with manned and unmanned teams.

DARPA is currently in source selection for UCAR Phase III. The UCAR program is funded jointly by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Army. Northrop Grumman is currently competing for Phase III of the program, which will include fabrication and testing of two UCAR demonstrator systems.

The flight tests were conducted August 2 at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar near San Diego, California. They used a UCAR vehicle management system originally developed for future updates to the U.S. Air Force RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV.

The R-MAX tests were the latest in a series of company-funded activities aimed at reducing UCAR risk. During the next phase of the UCAR program, Northrop Grumman plans to continue its flight test program using three R-MAX helicopters. It will demonstrate collaborative operations among multiple surrogate UCARs and manned helicopters.

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