Replacing Seahawk?

It is well known that the principal goal of the multi-phased Project Air 9000 helicopter rationalisation program was to reduce the overall number of helicopters operated by the ADF from nine types to as few as four, and thus realise operational savings and training benefits from having a less diverse fleet.

Army is well down the path on its part of the program with the retirement of the last UH-1H Iroquois late last year (see December ’07 AA), the introduction of the Tiger ARH under Air 87 from 2009 to replace the Iroquois gunship and Bell Kiowa in the armed reconnaissance roles (see June 08 AA), the selection of the MRH 90 to replace the Black Hawk from 2011 under Phases 2, 4 and 6 of Air 9000, and its participation in the Phase 7 Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS) program with Navy to acquire a common type and training system to replace the remaining Kiowas from 2012 (likely contenders EC 135, A109LUH and Bell 429).

Army has also upgraded its six CH-47D Chinooks and will acquire between three and six CH-47Fs from 2011.

Navy has also embarked on its path to Air 9000 efficiency by replacing the ageing Sea King utility transport helicopters with about six MRH 90s from a common Army managed pool of 46 aircraft from 2010, by joining with Army for a common training type and, albeit circuitously, by cancelling the much troubled SH-2G(A) Seasprite in March.

This leaves just the Navy’s 16 S-70B-2 Seahawks to be upgraded under the ongoing Phases 1 and 2 of Sea 1405 and then the follow-on Phase 3 of Air 9000, before being replaced under Phase 8.

But with the troubled Seasprite now dead and buried, the Seahawks have been working hard during a time ofhigh operational tempo and limited availability due to the upgrade processes. Phase 3 has set aside up to $450 million in the 2012 timeframe for a mid-life upgrade (MLU) of the Seahawk which, although yet to be defined, could comprise both structural and system/sensor enhancements sufficient to get the fleet through to its life of type around 2020.

Meanwhile, the 2006-2016 Defence Capability Plan saw provisions for Phase 8 added to acquire a replacement for the Seahawks (and at the time, the Seasprites too) for service entry from 2017. But there has been talk within Defence in recent months about possibly bringing the $2. 5-$3 billion Phase 8 forward by five or six years in order to totally replace Navy’s combat helicopter force sooner. This could be made possible with the additions of savings realised from the Seasprite cancellation and from scaling back the Phase 5 mid life update work on the Seahawks.

The Mh-60r

The Sikorsky S-70/H-60 Hawk family of Black Hawk and Seahawk helicopters has formed the backbone of US and many allied army and naval aviation forces – including Australia’s – for many years now.

The S-70/H-60 has continually evolved over more than 30 years to remain tactically and technologically relevant, with the latest variant of the family, the MH-60R ‘Romeo’ Seahawk, just entering US Navy service to replace ageing SH-60B and F model Seahawks in the anti-submarine (ASW) and anti-surface (ASuW) warfare roles.

The Romeo retains the standard Seahawk airframe, including 1800shp (1345kW) GE T700-GE-401C engines, but with its new sensors, avionics, weapons and combat systems it is a very different, far more capable helicopter.

The MH-60R will form the backbone of the US Navy’s ASW/ASuW aviation force well into the 2030s, complemented by the MH-60S ‘Sierra’ transport and mine hunter which features a common cockpit and drivetrain mated to the MH-60R but with a marinised UH-60L Black Hawk airframe. The US Navy originally planned that the MH-60R be remanufactured from SH-60B/Fs, but quickly discovered it was more cost effective to acquire new build MH-60Rs, and in the end, only 10 SH-60B/Fs of a scheduled build run of about 290 Romeos were ‘remanned’ (the ‘R’ in the MH-60R designation came from ‘Remanufactured’).

The first test MH-60R made its maiden flight in July 2001, and the type entered operational evaluation (OpEval) with the US Navy’s VX-1 test squadron in May 2005 during which the aircraft’s systems, maintainability and combat effectiveness were thoroughly tested. Following a successful OpEval, the first MH-60Rs entered service with the San Diego based Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) HSL-41 in December 2005, and HSM-71 is scheduled for its first operational MH-60R deployment early next year.

MH-60R airframes are built by Sikorsky in Connecticut before being flown to nearby Owego in central New York state to be fitted with Lockheed Martin’s comprehensive mission and combat systems, sensors and other equipment. When compared to the S-70B-2, the Romeo features vastly enhanced digital mission and flight displays, an advanced flight control computer, an integrated electronic warfare self protection (EWSP) suite, an ALQ-210 electronic support measures (ESM) suite, datalink, satellite communications, advanced sensors including Telephonics’ APS-147 Multi- Mode Radar (MMR) featuring inverse synthetic aperture radar and air-to-air modes, AAS-44 electro-optical/infrared sensors, 25 sonar buoys and AQS-22 dipping sonar with a UYS-2A sonobuoy signal data processor, and a weapons suite including two lightweight Mk50 torpedoes or up to eight AGM-114 Hellfire II missiles on three external weapon pylons.

The common MH‑60R/S cockpit features four 20x25cm LCD multifunction displays which are night visiongoggle compatible, while in US Navy service the Romeo will typically be crewed by three – pilot, copilot/tacco and an acoustic sensor operator.

Other features include the ability to carry a pintle mounted machine gun, a single 270kg rescue hoist, a 2700kg external cargo hook, and the RAST (Recovery, Assist, Secure & Traverse) winch deck recovery system (in common with earlier Seahawks), allowing landings in up to sea state 5. Internal fuel capacity is approximately 1810kg litres, with two 370kg tanks able to be carried externally. Maximum takeoff weight is 10,670kg. Main rotor diameter is 18. 9m and fuselage length is 19. 8m Max cruise speed is 144kt.

While the Romeo will replace the SH-60B/F in US Navy service, the similarly configured Sierra which entered service in 2005 is replacing the UH-3H, CH-46D, HH-60H, MH-53E and HH-1N in the transport, vertical replenishment (vertrep), anti-mine, and search and rescue (SAR) roles. The US Navy’s goal is in time to operate just the two operational helicopter types, the Romeo and Sierra.

NFH90

As the Seahawk is to the Black Hawk, the NFH90 (NFH stands for ‘NATO Frigate Helicopter’) is a maritime ASW and ASuW development of the basic NH90 tactical transport helicopter, which is being delivered to the Australian Army and Navy as the MRH 90. The NH90 series is being developed by the NH Industries consortium (hence NH for ‘NATO Helicopter’). The four NH90 founder nations are France, Germany, Italy and France, and NH Industries’s key industrial partners are Eurocopter (France and Germany), AgustaWestland (Italy) and Fokker (Netherlands), with Portugal later joining as a junior industrial partner. Today, 507 NH90s of all variants are on firm order from 14 nations, including Australia and New Zealand. Firm NFH90 commitments have been placed by Italy (46), France (27), the Netherlands (20), Norway (14), and Belgium (4), while Germany has a requirement for the helicopter and Sweden is acquiring a unique maritime model based on its high cabin transport variant and fitted with a Saab mission system.

The NH90/MRH 90 and NFH90 share the same airframe, 1788shp (1335kW) Rolls-Royce Turbomeca RTM322 engines (GE/Fiat Avio T700s are optional), 1900kg fuel capacity (giving up to four hours mission endurance in ASW/ASuW configuration) and core Thales avionics suite. The NFH90 features a composite construction airframe, quadruple redundancy digital fly-by-wire flight control system, common engines, transmission and fuel systems.

Where it differs is in role specific systems and equipment, with AgustaWestland taking the lead on developing the naval mission system and integrating sensors such as the Thales led European Navy Radar (ENR), dipping and disposable sonobuoys, and Galileo Avionica nose turret mounted FLIR (with integrated laser rangefinder).

Rotor diameter is 16. 4m and fuselage length is 16. 1m. Max cruising speed is 147kt and economy cruising speed is 130kt.

The NFH90’s key sensor is its ENR 360 degree X-band surface search radar.

Designed to detect submarine periscopes, it is capable of multi-target track while scan, features inverse synthetic aperture radar modes and limited air-to-air detection modes. This Thales led radar project has had its share of teething problems, with its initial failure to meet performance targets a major contributor to the mid 2007 decision to delay NFH90 deliveries two years until the second half of 2009.

“Honestly, we have had some problems (with the radar), but we have inves-tigated them and they are being fixed,” Capitiane de Vaisseau (ret) Herve Brunet, a Eurocopter naval aviation marketing manager, told Australian journalists recently.

“It will work. ” Thales has assumed leadership of the ENR project, which is based on its Ocean Master radar family and is being developed in conjunction with EADS in Germany and Galileo Avionica. Flight testing began in August 2007.

Brunet continued, “In fact when I was a (NFH90) program officer (in the French navy) we told them this (collaborative approach to developing the radar) would not work. ” Sure the individual components – emitter, processor, antenna – being developed for ENR – were likely to be good, but, “you mix everything and it is not good!” he recalled.

“In fact Thales has taken the lead (on ENR) and is fixing the problems one after the other. ” (Interestingly, Sweden’s five naval NH90s will be fitted with a Telephonics APS‑143B(V)3 OceanEye search radar – the APS-143 was fitted to the ill-fated Australian Seasprite, but other recent APS-143 applications include Canada’s CP-140 upgrade, New Zealand’s Seasprites and Singapore’s forthcoming S-70B Seahawks. ) NFH90s can be fitted with either a French (Flash Sonics) or German/US (HELRAS) sonar system. It is fitted with a Link 11 datalink and an integrated communications/ indentification suite, and an EADS Defence Electronics self defensive suite including EADS AAR-60 MILDS missile approach warning system, Thales TWE (Threat Warning Equipment) integrated radar and laser warning receivers, and MBDA Saphir-M chaff and flare dispenser.

Like the Seahawk the NFH90 is designed to be operated by a crew of three – pilot, tactical coordinator (tacco) in the cockpit and a single senso, with the senso station in the main cabin (a ‘plug and play’ second tacco station can be fitted alongside the senso station for training or operational purposes).

The cockpit features five 20x20cm LCD multifunction displays (one more than the NH/MRH 90), the senso station three 20x20cm MFDs.

All mission and aircraft information can be called up by any screen. Pilot and tacco wear Thales’s Top Owl helmet mounted displays, common to the Tiger and NH/MRH 90.

Despite being a dedicated ASW/ASuW helicopter, the NFH90’s cabin can be reconfigured for utility transport roles. Eurocopter says the NFH90 can be configured to carry up to 14 troops in around an hour with the removal of the senso console (although configuring back to a ASW/ASuW configuration takes longer). Even in standard ASW/ASuW config the NFH90 can carry six or seven troops (or a naval boarding party). For search and rescue missions the NFH90 (like the NH/MRH 90) can be fitted with single or dual 270kg winches.

The NFH90 is being developed to carry the MU90, Stingray and Mk46 torpedoes (the lightweight Eurotorp MU90 is already in ADF service for RAAF Orions and Navy Seahawks and FFG and Anzac frigates), while its standard air-to-surface missile is the MBDA Marte Mk2/S.

This missile, like its contemporaries, is an all-weather fire and forget weapon.

Some 3. 8m long and weighing 324kg it carries a 70kg warhead, and is sea skimming (with inertial and GPS navigation) before popping up to activate its radar to acquire the target. It is currently in service on Italian navy SH-3D Sea Kings and EH-101s.

As it stands, if Australia was to acquire the NFH90 it would need to buy a new airto- surface missile as the Marte is not in the ADF’s inventory, unless it paid to have the Penguin missile it acquired for the Seasprites integrated to the European helicopter.

However, if Norway decided to arm its NFH90s with the Penguin that problem couldbe solved.

To optimise it for naval operations, the NFH90 features an automatic blade and tail boom folding system, which takes three minutes to deploy.

Interestingly, the Australian MRH 90s currently are not fitted with the blade folding, but the DMO has issued an engineering change proposal to evaluate the cost of fitting blade folding to existing and yet to be built MRH 90s as this would increase their flexibility to operate off smaller ship decks. Elements of the Navy are understood to be in favour of fitting blade folding to at least some of the MRH 90s, but it comes with a weight penalty of over 100kg, meaning one fewer soldier can be carried. (DMO is also watching Italian plans to fit its transport NH90s with pintlemounted Oto Melara 7. 62mm Gatling guns. ) Should a NFH90 have to ditch in the ocean for whatever reason – mechanical or combat damage – it is fitted with an emergency floatation system (unlike the Seahawk), which is claimed to keep the helicopter upright in the water for at least 15 minutes in sea state 4 and at least two hours in sea state 3.

Even without a deck recovery system like the RAST system used on Australian frigates and Seahawks, the NFH90 can operate off ship decks in quite severe sea states (up to sea state 6 claimed), with claimed wind limits of 50kt head wind, 35kt beam wind and 20kt tail wind for deck launch and landings at a 10. 6 tonne max takeoff weight.

The NFH90’s biggest problem in being a successful candidate for the RAN’s helicopter requirements may be timing, especially after the two year delivery delays announced in mid 2007, caused by the radar development issues but also weight and problems with the undercarriage.

The weight issue was countered by increasing the maximum takeoff weight by 400kg to 11 tonnes and increasing engine and main rotor RPM, while a weight reduction program for production NFH90s is underway.

The undercarriage (which features a steerable nosewheel for shipborne operations) was successfully redesigned.

Australian Eurocopter subsidiary/representative Australian Aerospace has said that it is confident in meeting any Australian program delivery schedule, but it’s likely that an operational NFH90 capability won’t be ready until around 2012.

ROMEO or NFH?

As AA has reported previously, Defence requested prices and availability for up to 27 helicopters (ie replacing 16 Seahawks and 11 Seasprites) earlier this year as it sought to provide government options in the lead-up to the Seasprite cancellation decision. Both Sikorsky and Eurocopter/EADS responded, providing details on the MH-60R/S and the NFH90 respectively.

For some time, particularly when Air 9000’s fleet rationalisation goals are taken into account, the aircraft many had perceived as being the most logical Phase 8 contender was the NFH 90, due to its high degree of commonality with Army’s MRH 90 troop transport. But the NFH’s certification and integration issues in recent years has delayed the availability of a mature aircraft.

Given the highly publicised problems with the Seasprite, plus problems experienced with the Tiger program, the DMO may well be wary of further potential development hitches for the NFH90. On the other hand, thanks to the firmly established MRH 90 and Tiger programs, the DMO’s Helicopter Systems Division has been intimately exposed to the operations and culture of NH Industries and Eurocopter for some years now. And the concept of a fleet of up to 75 NH90 derivatives (48 MRH 90s and 27 NFH90s) may be arresting from a maintenance, support and training perspective – not to mention the industrial benefits that would likely flow from a further NH90 derivative buy. This would make Australia the fourth largest NH90 customer, behind only Germany, France and Italy.

But NFH90 program risk, and the earlier availability of the more mature MH-60R, leaves the Lockheed Martin/ Sikorsky product well placed despite seemingly going against the stated goals of Air 9000 by adding another type to the mix. The MH-60R seems to be firmly within the sights of Defence planners.

Lockheed Martin officials recently told AA that there has been “strong interest” in the ‘Romeo’ from Australia, with senior Navy and DMO officials visiting that company’s Owego integration facility in New York, as wellas Sikorsky’s Connecticut production facility and the US Navy’s MH-60R/S training unit, HSL-41, in San Diego in mid May for detailed briefings.

Introducing the MH-60R would likely be an easier process compared to inducting the NFH90, given the Navy’s familiarity with its existing Seahawks (similar to the Air Force’s introduction of the F/A-18F Super Hornet given its familiarity with Boeing and the US Navy as an existing ‘classic’ Hornet operator). Then there is the ability to take advantage of likely US Navy block upgrade programs.

The eventual timing and scope of Phase 8 is likely to be influenced by the Rudd government’s pending decision on the fate of the troubled four ship Sea 1390 Phase 2. 1 FFG upgrade program (FFG-UP). With this project previously running up to three years late until being ‘re-baselined’ in late 2006, and reportedly still not achieving many of the capability goals laid out for it, the project is known to on a ‘watch-list’ for possible cancellation.

But while these four ships have been offline for their upgrade work, the ongoing unavailability of the Seasprites wasn’t felt operationally as much as it could have been, with the Seahawks (just) being able to cover most of Navy’s operational and training requirements. The general rule of thumb for a Navy the size of Australia’s is to have a helicopter to ship ratio of two-and-a-half to three to one to meet operational and training commitments while allowing for maintenance and upgrade periods for both helicopters and ships, depending on operational tempos.

So if FFG-UP is cancelled and the FFG frigates are paid off early before the AWDs arrive mid next decade, then the current Seahawk fleet may just be enough to support the eight Anzacs until a new Phase 8 helicopter arrives.

But if the FFG-UP program comes good by its November deadline and these ships are retained until their planned 2015-2021 withdrawal timeframes, Navy will clearly be unable to meet its aviation support obligations to its major surface combatant fleet of 12 vessels with just 16 Seahawks. So at least six and as many as 12 helicopters may be required at fairly short notice in order to provide an appropriate naval aviation capability, unless Navy decides to, or is forced to, live with a capability gap.

Certainly, there were signs last year that Navy was thinking of an interim type should the Seasprite be cancelled, with DMO Helicopter Systems Division personnel directed to look for alternatives to bolster the fleet. One option is believed to have included the possible acquisition of some second hand US Navy SH-60B/F Seahawks in order to provide training airframes, thus freeing up the 16 upgraded S-70B-2s for operational duties. But, apart from US Navy Seahawks having sufficiently different avionics and other systems to limit their training value to basic pilot training at best, the US’s high operational tempo in recent years and the fact that its best Seahawks are now being transferred to reserve units means there were no ‘good, clean’ aircraft available.

So the options for Navy appear to be: to retain and upgrade the current Seahawks and replace them through Phase 8 late next decade; to acquire an interim capability or an initial Phase ‘8A’ batch of helicopters to fill the gap left by the Seasprites and to complement the partially upgraded Seahawks until a larger Phase ‘8B’ buy can be made early next decade; or to bring forward Phase 8 and replace the Seahawks and Seasprites with a common type in one fell swoop.

A lot will depend on the outcomes of the White Paper and whether FFG-UP meets its capability milestones this November.