A Weapons Fit for the Black Hawk

Other weapons likely to be encountered include rocket launchers of the RPG-7 type, 60mm mortars, 12. 7mm and 14. 5mm heavy machine guns and man portable defence missiles like the SA-7, Redeye and Blowpipe. Threats using these weapons can quite conceivably include insurgents and guerilla-type forces. The air defence threat has increased significantly since the Vietnam War.

The current helicopter pintle gun, the M-60D machine gun is inadequate in terms of its suppressive rate of fire and with the introduction of the MAG-582 machine gun, it has become non standard in field operations. Both the M-60D and the MAG-58 use the 7. 62x51mm NATO round. The MAG-58 has a maximum rate of fire of 1,000 RPM (rounds per minute) and the M-60D a maximum rate of fire of 550 RPM, so the replacement of the M-60D by the MAG-58 for the Black Hawk will increase the organic firepower by 90% without introducing a new weapon into the supply system. Suppressive fire is area fire and as such is unaimed. The greater the amount of fire targetted at an area the more likely the ability to suppress return fire.

To increase the amount of fire there are three options. One is to introduce a higher rate of fire weapon like the M-134 7. 62mm 6 barrel minigun3 which fires at 6000RPM’. Its attendant penalties are increased weight, cost and complexity. Secondly, a twin pintle mount could be configured where the present single pintle mount is. This is not practical though as the size of this installation would reduce the gunner’s arc of fire. The third way is to use the old artillery maxim of increasing the performance of the ammunition instead of changing the gun. To double the firepower of the MAG-58 at very little cost, the introduction of the M-198 7. 62x51mm Duplex round is thus proposed5

The M-198 round uses two bullets one behind the other to double the amount of shots fired per firing cycle. The two bullets are lighter than the standard ball round and the rear bullet is canted at nine degrees to give an in-built dispersion which further increases its effectiveness in area fire. This round could be manufactured in Australia and is a NATO standard round. The small increase in cost, when compared to the standard ball round would be offset by the doubling of firepower it provides and the use of the standard ball round in training.

When compared with the current M-60D, the MAG-58 with the M-198 round quadruples suppressive fire, comparable to the M-134 minigun, at little extra cost with no penalties in weight or complexity. However, due to the dispersion factor of the rear bullet, the use of the M-198 round over friendly forces at ranges over 600 metres, would need to be investigated.

The Gunship Helicopter

The gunship version of the Black Hawk helicopter will be required to perform Close Air Support and defence suppression missions during airmobile operations. To perform these missions, a weapons fit capable of defeating targets ranging from troops in the open to fight armoured vehicles (LAVs) is required. The point target weapon should be an automatic gun with rockets as the area weapon. Using the external stores support system (ESSS), the Black Hawk helicopter is capable of carrying a gun pod on each inner pylon, the ammunition being fed by flexi-link from the cabin and a 19 round 2. 75 inch rod pod on each outer pylon.

The automatic gun should be capable of defeating hardened targets with point fire and suppressing personnel armed with man-portable air defence missiles and heavy machine guns. The criteria for deciding on the ammunition performance should of necessity, be based on the ability to penetrate 25mm thick armour plate with a Brinell Hardness of 450 at a range of 1600 metres

The 20x102mm round used on the F-18A just falls short of meeting this criterion using the armour-piercing discarding sabot round’. Other types of ammunition for this round include high explosive (HE), armour piercing incendiary (API), tracer and ball. However, as the 20x102mm round is based on a German Second World War round, it is obviously showing its age. Designed as a small artillery round it is therefore expensive to manufacture when compared to rounds based on scaled-up small arms ammunition. The training cost when using 20mm ammunition is considerable and if a more cost effective round is available, it should be purchased.

Fabrique Nationale have developed a 15x115mm round which when compared to the 20x102mm round”, offers superior penetration for a lighter cartridge. When compared to the 20x102mm API round, the 15x115mm round saves 25% of the weight, or for the same weight, 33% more rounds can be carried. The APDS version of the round is capable of meeting the penetration criteria. The 15x115mm round also has a shorter time of flight than the 20x102mm round and this means less ballistic dispersion providing more accurate air to ground fire. The weapon designed to use the 15x115mm round is the BRG15 machine gun. The BRG15 weighs 55kg, has an overall length of two metres and a cyclic rate of fire of 500RPM. The weapon is dual feed, meaning that two belts of ammunition are available for use at any one time. This allows the pilot to select the most appropriate ammunition type for the target being engaged.

The rocket pod I envisage for the gunship is the LAU-5003A/A 19 round 2. 75 inch lightweight rocket launcher. The launcher has a length of 1494mm, a diameter of 400mm and a weight of 34. 7kg empty. One launcher would fit on each outer store pylon to give the helicopter a load of 38 2. 75 inch rockets. The rocket that should be carried is the Canadian CRV-7 2. 75 inch rocket.

The CRV-7 rocket has a practical slant range of 4300m which is over three times that of the present 2. 75 inch rocket. The impact velocity of 1200m/sec provides such kinetic energy that the 4. 1kg soft steel cored inert training head will penetrate 150mm steel plate and 500mm of concrete. Additionally, this rocket has demonstrated a dispersion of less than 4 mils. With The CRV-7 rocket has a practical slant range of 4300m which is over three times that of the present 2. 75 inch rocket. The impact velocity of 1200m/sec provides such kinetic energy that the 4. 1kg soft steel cored inert training head will penetrate 150mm steel plate and 500mm of concrete’°. Additionally, this rocket has demonstrated a dispersion of less than 4 mils. With the helicopter hovering, a ripple of eight rockets provides a probability approaching 95% of hitting an aimed-for-ground target, with a volume of 28. 8 m3 at 2000m. The rocket motor weighs only 6. 6kg and warheads of up to 11. 35kg have been tested.

This rocket would enable the helicopter to engage any target from infantry in the open, to bunkers and mobile air defence systems. The rocket would also increase survivability against a target which has an anti-aircraft weapon when compared to a wire-guided missile like the TOW, as it is a fire-and-forget weapon. The ability to engage these targets means that any battlefield target in our area of interest can be destroyed by the gunship helicopter. If in the future, the engagement of small numbers of main battle tanks (MBTs) becomes necessary, the tungsten penetrator warhead which is available would provide the capability to destroy them.

To employ these guns and rockets effectively, a fire control system is required. The system should be centred around a cabin roof-mounted stabilized sight with night vision capability and a laser rangefinder. Coupled with a rocket management system to provide rocket and fuze selectivity, this system would allow for the carriage of more than one type of warhead. This would also enable more than one type of target to be engaged per mission. A sight along the lines of the Saab/Emerson M65 is what I am proposing.

Due to the high target value of the gunship, passive defence measures would need to be incorporated into the helicopter. These may include Kevlar armour panels around the frontal arc of the helicopter, a chaff/flare dispenser, a radar warning receiver (RWR) and an infra-red countermeasures (IRCM) set. The Tractor M-130 chaff/flare dispenser, the E-Systems APR-39(V)1 RWR and the ALQ-144(V) IRCM set are already current equipments on the US Army’s Black Hawks, so there would be no trouble fitting them to our Army’s.

The Future

The weapons system for the Black Hawk helicopter should be flexible enough to enable upgrading if the threat changes. The three major threats which may occur if Australian forces were to become involved in middle-intensity operations outside of Australia are: attacks by massed armour; air to air combat involv ing enemy helicopters; and air defences that include multiple cannon and radar-guided surface to air missiles. These threats would also mean that gunship kits would need to be available to enable these missions to be conducted and for gunships escorting utility helicopters.

If Australian Forces were to face a threat that included company size units of main battle tanks, the helicopter gunship would require an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) with a fire and forget mode capable of multiple engagements. The AGM-114A Hellfire laser homing anti-tank guided missile currently used for the US Army’s Black Hawk meets this requirement. Weighing 45. 7 kilograms and having a range of 7000 metres, the AGM-114A is equipped with a 178 mm-shaped charge warhead. Sixteen Hellfire missiles can be carried on the Black Hawk’s ESSS with a further 16 in the cabin. The Hellfire’s laser homing seeker also enables the Black Hawk to fire the missile ballistically from behind cover. The missile homes in on radiated energy from a laser designator and the size of the warhead ensures that an armoured vehicle or bunker hit by the missile will be knocked out.

Air combat helicopter operations against the Black Hawk gunship do not pose as many problems as it might suggest. The 15mm machine gun and CRV-7 rockets, coupled with the Black Hawk’s latent agility and speed, would give the helicopter an inbuilt self defence capability against potential threat helicopters. The helicopter in current use which is actually best suited for helicopter air combat is the Army’s Kiowa. This is due to its small size, agility and ready availability. It could be armed with a weapon like the General Dynamics multipurpose lightweight missile system (MLMS), which is a variant of the US Stinger man-portable SAM, modified for use in the air to air role. A system like this would enable the Kiowa to be used in the primary role of tactical reconnaissance, but with the added advantage of being able to defend itself against opposition helicopters.

Conclusion

The weapons fit envisaged in this article puts forward a cost effective solution to the arming of the utility and gunship versions of the Black Hawk helicopter. These weapons fits should ensure the survivability of both the utility and gunship versions against threats likely to be encountered in the region.

Footnotes

1. M-193 SS109 MBO
Projectile Weight 3.56gm 4.00gm 9.33gm
Penetration of 3.45mm NATO plate al: 400m 640m 620m
Length of complete round 57.3mm 57.3mm 71.05mm
Weight of complete round ll.79gm 12.3gm 25.4gm

2. M-60D-Weight: 10. 5kg, Overall Length: 1105mm, Rate of Fire: 550rpm. MAG-58-Weight: 10. 85kg, Overall Length: 1260mm, Rate of Fire: 600-1000rpm.

3. M-134-Weight: 17. 4kg, Overall Length: 800mm, Rate of Fire: 300-6000rpm.

4. The pintle-mounted version rarely fires over 2,000 rpm due to controllability problems and the ammunition feed requirements at high rates of fire.

5. Cartridge: 7. 62mm NATO, Ball, Duplex, M-198. Front Bullet 838 metres/sec +/-9 metres/sec at 23. 7 metres. Rear Bullet 671 metres/sec minimum at 23. 7 metres. 7189m kg chamber pressure. Accuracy: Front Bullet 51mm radius max. average at 30. 5 metres. Dispersion: Rear Bullet between 127 and 254mm CEP at 30. 5 metres. Bullet Weight: Front Bullet 5. 17gm +/- 0. 12gm Rear Bullet 5. 24gm +/- 0. 12gm.

6. This figure relates to the frontal armour on a representative light armoured vehicle, the AMX-13. Similarly the round would also have good penetration against other types of hardened targets construc- ted of brick, rock, concrete and earth. This distance is also outside the effective anti-aircraft range of 12. 7x99mm and 14. 5x114mm machine guns.

7. The 20x102mm APDS round will penetrate 25mm of armour plate with a Brinell Hardness of 450 at 1600 metres.

8. 15x115mm Ball – Overall Length: 160mm, Weight (with link): 227gm. 20x102mm HEI-Overall Length: 167mm, Weight (with link): 303gm.

9. The 15x115mm APDS round will penetrate 25mm of armour plate with a Brinell Hardness of 450 at 1600 metres.

10. The figures for the CRV-7 are taken from International Defense Review 11/81 Pages 1521 and 1522 from the article entitled, “The Canadian CRV-7 ONIMIKKII”.

Mildura/Renmark/Adelaide and Mildura/Broken Hill routes

Sunstate have added Cessna 404 VH-LAD to their fleet.

Australian Airlines Fleet Changes

Main items of interest from Australian Airlines are the continued deliveries of the 737-376 fleet and the sale of the first 727-276.

Two more 737-376 aircraft were delivered to Australian Airlines in this period. VH-TAU ‘Enterprise’ flew into Melbourne on December 5th after its trans-Pacific ferry, while VH-TAV ‘Intrepid’ arrived on December 16th.

727-276 VH-TBK was meanwhile sold to the UK operator Dan Air, London. VH-TBK operated its last flight for Australian Airlines on November 22nd before departing Melbourne for Darwin on December 5th. The final destination in the UK was the Dan Air maintenance base at Lasham airfield in Hampshire.

F27-600QC VH-TQR was ferried from Melbourne to Brisbane on December 11th and entered service the next day with Air Queensland. This aircraft, which has been under overhaul in Melbourne, was surprisingly rolled out still carrying the old TAA colour scheme and Trans Australia titles.

In Traffic, January 1987 we mentioned the disposal of some units of the DC-9 fleet. Further information on these aircraft has since come to hand. VH-TJO which was sold through ILFC and leased to the Las Vegas based Sunworld International has been registered N731L. VH-TJL which was sold to freight operator Airborne Express has entered service as N938AX.

Australian Airlines have also dry leased one of their A300 aircraft to Air Niugini to cover a maintenance lay-up on A300 P2- ANG. On December 8th VH-TAC was ferried from Melbourne to Sydney to commence approx 6 weeks flying with Air Niugini. Only change to VH-TACS colour scheme was the deletion of the TAA titles on the forward fuselage and tail.

Ansett Airlines Fleet Movements

Another very busy period for Ansett Airlines as they complete delivery of their 737-300 fleet and continue disposal of their 737-200s.

During this period a further 6 737-377s were delivered to Ansett Airlines and this completed their order for twelve of this type. When you consider that the first aircraft arrived on August 25th and the last on January 18th this is quite a remarkable effort by both Boeing and Ansett. Aircraft to arrive in this period were VH-CZG on November 23rd, VH-CZH on November 28th, VH-CZI on December 14th, VH-CZJ on December 19th, VH- CZK on January 11th and VH-CZL on January 18th.

737-277 disposals in this period have been – VH-CZW which departed Melbourne on November 28th, VH-CZT on December 5th, VH-CZN on January 1st and VH-CZS on January 9th. At time of writing this leaves three of the 737-277 fleet still in service, VH-CZR, VH-CZU and VH-CZV. The last flight by an Ansett 737- 277 should be in early February and all should have departed for the United States a few days later. All twelve Ansett 737-277s were sold to the Phoenix, Arizona based America West Airlines. The first ex-Ansett 737 to enter service with America West was the former VH-CZX which was delivered as N189AW on October 13th and entered service on the 15th. The twelve Ansett 737- 277s have been allocated registrations in the block N178AW through N189AW.

America West are also taking delivery of eight 737-33As which are leased from Trans Pacific Enterprises. They have been allocated registrations N164AW thru N169AW and N172AW, N173AW. The first of this batch of aircraft N164AW was delivered to America West on October 2nd.

Ansett Transport Industries have also set up a Hong Kong based subsidiary named Nordstress. They have recently ordered six 737-300s with options on a further six and these aircraft will be offered for lease through Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services. Deliveries are scheduled for September to November 1987.

727-277 VH-RMY returned to Ansett service on December 6th. Evidently, this was only of a temporary nature as the Boeing was flown with an all-white tail.

S-61N VH-BHJ departed Melbourne on November 26th on delivery to Barrack Helicopters in Western Australia. There it joined sister ship VH-BHO and on December 20th the two helicopters commenced a high-frequency operation between the North Quay Heliport in Fremantle and Rottnest Island.

NSCA Fleet Update

We last published a fleet list for the National Safety Council of Australia in Traffic, in November 1985. Since then each issue of Traffic has mentioned further changes so at the start of a New Year it would seem appropriate to once again update the NSCA fleet.

The bulk of the fleet are painted in NSCA’s striking yellow and black colours with a large fleet number on the side for easy identification.

Bell 205A-VH-NSH/01, VH-NS/02, VH-NSJ/03, VH-UHN/ 04, VH-UHP/05, VH-NHA/07, VH-HHC/08 and VH-HHD/09. The Bell 205As are used by the NSCA as fire bombers and are fitted with a Connair-designed 1,400-litre belly tank. Recent changes to the Bell 205A fleet include the addition of three Frontier Helicopters Bell’s for the summer fire season. They are C-GFHA to VH-NHA, C-GFHC to VH-HHC and C-GFHD to VH-HHD. The two Bell 205As imported from Indonesia in early 1986 have been sold. VH-NST has gone to an operator in North Queensland while VH-NSQ/06 was recently traded in on Bell 412 VH-CRQ. Bell 212-VH-NSA/14, Bell 412-VH-NSO/11, VH-NSP/12, VH-AHH/16, VH-CRQ/17. VH-CRQ is a recent addition to the Bell 412 fleet and was first noted at West Sale in early January. It is expected to be re-registered VH-NSC in the near future. Another re-registration will be VH-AHH which is due to become VH-NSV.

Bo105S VH-NSL/15. Cessna 208 Caravan – VH-JEE, VH-JEJ, VH-JEY. Latest addition to the Caravan fleet is VH-JEY c/n 00104. As N9603F it flew into Sydney on December 10th on termination of its trans Pacific ferry flight. VH-JEY was delivered to the NSCA base at West Sale on January 9th. After the fitment of a special roller door by Gippsland Aeronautics at Latrobe Valley the Caravan will be delivered to the NSCA base at Coolangatta. There it will replace the two N-22SB aircraft presently used. These Nomad’s VH-SNX and VH-SNZ were ferried to Banks- town in early January as trade-ins on the Caravan.

Beech King Air 200-VH-NSD/21, VH-NSF/23, VH-NSG/24, VH-NSS/25 and VH-NSR. King Air 200C C-GWSQ which is the former VH-NSE/22 was noted at West Sale in early January. This aircraft is fitted with Remote Fire Sensing Equipment and for the last two years has alternated between Australia and Canada during the respective fire seasons.

Finally Do228-200 VH-NSC which operated with the NSCA for a period in 1985/86 has been sold to an operator in the UK.

Pacific Islands Airliner Movements

Noted at Caims on December 12th was DQ-FEK the second of two ATR42-300s leased by Air Queensland to Air Pacific for two years. DQ-FEK c/n 025 continued its delivery flight the following day to Noumea and Fiji, where it arrived on the 14th. Another South Pacific operator of the ATR42 will be Air Polynesie based at Papeete. Their two aircraft will be F-ODUD c/n 035 and F-ODUE c/n 041.

In Traffic, January we mentioned the delivery of F28-1000 P2-ANL to Air Niugini. This aircraft is on a twelve-month lease/purchase agreement from the French operator TAT. P2- NAL is ex-F-GMOL and is in fact one of the prototype F28s PH- MOL c/n 11003.

Ansett-Newman have taken delivery of the two DHC-8s they had on order. The first, ZK-NEY flew into Christchurch on December 15th after its trans-Tasman crossing and entered service on December 25th. The second DHC-8, ZK-NEZ was scheduled to arrive in Christchurch on January 5th. With the Dash 8s in service the two Dash 7s previously used are to be sold overseas. ZK-NEW was withdrawn from service at Christchurch on December 24th and it is believed that it and ZK-NEX will go to a UK based airline.

Mount Cook meanwhile took delivery of two Cessna A185Fs in this period. N9919N flew into Christchurch on November 25th on completion of its trans-Pacific ferry while N714FV arrived on the 29th. N714FV has since been registered ZK-MCV and was delivered to Mount Cook airfield on December 11th.

Air Caledonie have added another Twin Otter to their fleet. F-ODGP DHC-6-300 c/n 505 departed Townsville on December 19th on the final leg of its ferry flight to New Caledonia. This aircraft was previously registered N505GH with the Monrovia, California-based World Vision.

International Visitors

Quite a varied collection for this issue of Traffic with the star attraction being the Air France Concorde.

Flying into Sydney on November 25th from Tahiti was Air France Concorde F-BVFF. Using call sign AF4801 the aircraft departed for Denpasar on the 27th with another load of Round the World tourists. The French returned to Sydney on December 30th when Air France 747-128 F-BPVM flew in from Nadi. Flight number was SF925 so the aircraft was evidently leased by Air France to subsidiary Air Charter International for this particular charter.

American Transair flew two loads of US tourists into Sydney in this period. L-1011 N189AT c/s TZ917 flew Nadi to Sydney on November 19th and departed for Auckland on the 25th.

Lockheed L-1011 N193AT c/s TZ823 flew in from Nadi on December 2nd and returned there on the 8th.

Sydney also helped to produce a couple of interesting freighters. A300C-620 A6-PFD of the United Arab Emirates Royal Flight flew in from Singapore on December 4th while ZAS Egypt 707-336C SU-DAD c/s WW824 arrived on December 28th also from Singapore. Korean Air Cargo 747-2B5F HL-7459 was noted at Sydney on November 19th.

A new airline on the international aviation scene are Legne Aerienne Seychelles based in the Republic of Seychelles. They operated their first service into Perth on December 18th using leased Air Zimbabwe 707-330B Z-WKU. Also noted at Perth were Air Mauritius 707-344B 3B-NAE on December 20th and 3B-NAF on December 23rd. Also passing through Perth was C-130A EL-AJM which arrived from Cocos Island on December 5th and departed the following morning to Avalon where it is now stored. This C-130A is the former A97-207 which was used in Ethiopia on famine relief.

General Aviation Ferry Flights

The bulk of the deliveries in this issue have been for New Zealand operators.

Arriving in Auckland from Norfolk Island on December 4th was PA31P VH-DRE. Previously operated by Heli-Muster it has been replaced in service by MU-2B VH-JWO which was itself imported to Australia from New Zealand in 1986. Another New Zealand bound PA31-350 was VH-SFH which flew Lord Howe/Norfolk/ Auckland on December 29th. Inbound to Brisbane from Honiara on November 25th was PA31 N31BP.

Cessna 206 N206WK flew from Pago to Brisbane on December 21st while a Cessna export to New Zealand was Cessna 421B VH-ADG. Recently traded in to Rex Aviation by the RFDS, Western Australia it flew Norfolk to Auckland on December 19th.

Noted at Brisbane Airport on December 11th was PA-34 9M-AXV. This aircraft was on delivery to Wing & Rotor, Auck- land.

Perhaps the most interesting aircraft to ferry into our area in this period was Beech D18S N1182F c/n A989. The twin Beech arrived in Auckland on December 14th (refer p47, Jan 87 AA) and will be registered ZK-TEX with the Confederate Air Force.

Noted at Moorabbin on January 6th after being uncrated in the Superspread Aviation hangar were Cessna 310 N310BH and Cherokee Warrior N32730.