Naval helicopter decision looms

During his opening address to the Pacific 2010 conference, Defence Minister John Faulkner said the “government will be considering Air 9000 (Phase 8) in the near future”, and reiterated the White Paper’s sense of “urgency” for the project, with defence sources confirming to Australian Aviation that a first pass decision will likely be made by cabinet’s National Security Committee (NSC) at its next scheduled meeting, due to be held as we went to press.

Much of the project’s urgency stems from an insufficient number of suitable helicopters currently available to the Navy to not only support operations, but also to sustain its aircrew training and currency throughput, with reports of a backlog of pilots and observers not being able to fly an appropriate amount of hours on operational helicopters at present.

With just 16 recently upgraded Seahawks and six Sea Kings (which will be replaced by MRH90s at the end of this year), the Navy is running its operational aircraft at a high tempo in lieu of the 11 cancelled Seasprites. Although the crewing backlog has been partially alleviated by the lease of three AgustaWestland A109E Powers from Raytheon Australia as a Retention and Motivation Initiative (RMI), crews would obviously prefer to be operating more sophisticated combat capable helicopters in more realistic operational and training scenarios than the A109s are capable of performing. So with a backlog already developing in the Navy aircrew training system, the likely outcome of not being able to induct a new operational type soon is that training intakes will have to be slowed to avoid pressure on the backlog, before being ramped up again in time for the new aircraft, thus creating a bubble in the training system which would flow through Navy aircrew ranks.

The number of aircraft required is also yet to be determined – the Navy says it needs between 2. 5 and three airframes for every one at sea, hence the “at least 24 aircraft” mentioned in the White Paper to support the required eight shipborne flights plus training and maintenance requirements.

But with newer generation and more robust avionics and systems, FADEC equipped engines, and easier to maintain airframes employed by both contenders, that ratio may not necessarily apply anymore. In addition, with more capable training aircraft and advanced synthetic training devices scheduled to come on line under the Phase 7 Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS) element of Air 9000 later next decade, there will be a much lower training burden placed on operational airframes.

Indeed, Australian Aerospace CEO Jens Goennemann revealed at Pacific 2010 that the RAN would need only 21 NFHs to maintain eight at sea and could also relinquish the six MRHs it has on order for transport and search and rescue roles. Alternatively, the Navy could retain its six MRH transports and would require only 18 NFHs for the ASW and ASuW missions.

There’s no doubt both sides have submitted compelling arguments for their respective products, and sources claim there are also two very distinct and polarised camps within Defence on which is the preferred solution.

On the one side is the risk adverse and Seahawk-centric crowd which wants the offthe- shelf, interoperable and easy-to-convert-to option in the Romeo; while on the other side are those who are lookphotoing at a what they perceive to be a more capable longer term solution in the NFH, one that also shares commonality with the MRH90 and which has a bigger growth potential.

‘Team Romeo’ had all hands on deck at Pacific 2010, with personnel on hand from the aircraft’s manufacturer Sikorsky, from systems integrator Lockheed Martin, and from the aircraft’s only operator at present, the US Navy, and conducted several high level briefings during the week.

But not to be outdone, Australian Aerospace brought not one but two NFHs to Australia for the show; a former prototype for static display at the exposition, and a production machine for the Italian navy which was based at Sydney Airport for VIP and media demonstration flights during the show. The flying example also visited Australian Aerospace’s manufacturing facility in Brisbane, participated in the Australia Day flying display over Sydney Harbour (pictured opposite), as well as visiting NAS Albatross at Nowra and the Defence offices in Canberra the following week, gaining huge electronic and print media exposure in the process.

Mh-60r Romeo

Team Romeo says its offering better meets the low risk requirement, as the Romeo is already in US Navy service (with the 50th unit due to be delivered at time of writing), and is available as a true Military Off- The-Shelf (MOTS) solution in the same mould as the successful RAAF F/A-18F Super Hornet and C-17 programs.

Additionally, the first MH‑60R can probably be delivered sooner due to the US Navy, as a member of Team Romeo, is said to be prepared to relinquish sufficient delivery slots early for the RAN to achieve an initial operating capability (IOC) by the end of 2012.

Romeo is far more than just another Seahawk. Despite sharing engine and airframe pedigree with the RAN’s current Seahawks, both of these elements have been substantially enhanced with composites and treatments to better deal with corrosion and fatigue, and have been redesigned in other areas to allow better access to and maintainability of commonly accessed components, especially at sea. And while the flight controls might feel familiar to a Seahawk pilot, the Romeo’s avionics, missions systems, communications, sensors and weapons are all new and state-of-the-art.

The Romeo is equipped as standard with the AGM 114 Hellfire air-to-surface missile which is effective against smaller surface vessels inside 8km, but does not come with a large anti-ship missile.

But through its Link 16 and Hawklink TCDL suite, it can be employed in a networked battlespace as a forward targeting node for larger ship and tactical air launched anti-surface weapons.

While not fully conforming to one of the original goals of Project Air 9000 as well as its competitor, that is to reduce the number of helicopter types in ADF service to four (or five with Seasprite), the MH‑60R offers advantages in that strategic and support relationships are already in place with Sikorsky, engine supplier GE and the US Navy for the current Seahawk, and that much of the Seahawk ground and shipborne support infrastructure is already in place.

NH90 NFH The NH90 NATO Frigate Helicopter shares about 80 per cent structural and systems commonality with the MRH90 currently being inducted into Australian Navy and Army service, and therefore better meets the commonality/fewer types goal of Air 9000. Major differences include the auto fold boom and blade mechanisms, external stores pylons, dipping sonar, sonar buoy dispenser, mission operator’s console in the cabin, and an enhanced software load with additional pages for the NFH’s sensors and weapons suite.

The NFH has a four hour endurance, and can employ the MU90 torpedo which is slated for use on the RAAF’s AP-3C Orions in air-launched form, and the MBDA Marte 2/S anti-ship missile which has a range in excess of 30km.

A key point is that the NFH is also fitted with an emergency floatation system, as is the MRH90 for which the ADF has bought about 20 float kits for its 46 MRHs and will likely acquire more. Following the Black Hawk crash off Fiji in November 2006, the resulting Board of Inquiry recommended that all future ADF helicopters employed from ships be fitted with emergency flotation systems.

The ADF is now building an extensive amount of corporate knowledge on the MRH90, and will have about two years of operational experience at sea with the Navy’s 808SQN by the time the first NFHs are available from early 2013. Similarly, the relationship between the ADF and Australian Aerospace is solid following a re-baselining of the Tiger ARH contract in 2007 and the contractor’s efforts to get the MRH up to pace.

Australian Aerospace has also been working overtime to alleviate perceptions that, to go with the less mature NFH is to take on an under-developed capability, especially to a risk adverse Navy still scarred by the career-killing Seasprite fiasco. And while some of the ultimate capabilities of the NFH are yet to be realised or are not available as true ‘off the shelf ’ items, the company points out that NFHs are scheduled to enter service with four European navies this year, and that the ADF should be looking at the 30 year big picture and not at what they consider is a quicker but shorter term solution in the Romeo.

Watch This Space

Industry and defence insiders have previously suggested that, in many ways, the language used in the 2009 White Paper and in the Phase 8 requirements document initially leant towards a sole source selection of the MH-60R to succeed the Seahawk and Seasprite.

But the word at Pacific 2010 was that a competition would likely be held, a view supported by Senator Faulkner’s statement that the ADF “will be seeking a way forward that provides the optimal balance of capability, cost, interoperability, risk and value for money. ” You should know shortly after reading these words!