Rotor Torque

“The internal dimensions of the AW139 make them the best choice for primary and secondary EMS applications, and allows the transport for up to two stretcher patients if required,” Australian Helicopters managing director John Boag said. “The aircraft are faster, can travel longer distanceswithout refuelling, and utilise state-of-the-art avionics technology. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Ambulance Victoria and the Victorian Government to support the community over the next decade. ” The new helicopters will be operational from January 2016.

First Kiwi SH-2G(I) Seasprite flies

The first SH-2G(I) Super Seasprite for New Zealand has made its first production test flight at Kaman’s facility in Bloomfield, Connecticut, Kaman announced in April.

The aircraft, one of 10 on order for the Royal New Zealand Navy, will be used for maintenance and aircrew training and is scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2014. The SH-2G(I) Seasprites will replace SH-2G Seasprites, which were acquired in the late 1990s, in RNZN service from next year.

“This flight of a NZ SH-2G(I) with a ‘Kiwi’ roundel represents a major milestone,” NZDF project manager Peter Lowen said in astatement. “The effort invested by the Ministry of Defence and the New Zealand Defence Force in cooperation with Kaman is now paying off. ” Of the 10 aircraft on order, eight will be operational machines and two will be used as a source of spares. The aircraft are all ex-RAN SH-2G(A) aircraft which were extensively refurbished from retired USN SH‑2F airframes. The NZ acquisition also includes a full motion flight simulator, training aids, spares inventory and publications.

The RAN never accepted its Seasprites into full operational service due to flight control system development problems, and the project was cancelled in 2008. For New Zealand service, they have been modified to be operated by a three-man crew instead of the more demanding two-crew configuration the RAN had specified.

The Seasprites have been in storage in the US since being handed back by the RAN in 2009, and will be returned to flying status, modified with the NZ requirement,and undergo an airworthiness and certification program. The first three machines are due to be delivered by the end of 2014, with all scheduled to be in service in mid-2016.

Meanwhile, in other regional naval air arm news, the Indonesian navy is to order 15 Airbus Helicopters AS565 Panther anti-submarine warfare helicopters.

Airbus EC145 T2 gains certification

The Airbus Helicopters EC145 T2 has been granted certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), clearing the way for customer deliveries to commence later this year.

The T2 is an upgraded version of the EC145, and features a new fenestron tail rotor and composite tail boom, the new Helionix digital avionics suite with fouraxis autopilot, and more powerful Arriel 2E dual-FADEC engines withan upgraded main gearbox.

Airbus has received orders for more than 115 EC145 T2s including 16 military version EC645 T2s for the German army.

Budget confirms HATS delay, ARH support issues

The Defence Portfolio Budget Statements (PBS) released as part of the federal government’s budget on May 13 reveals that the planned retirement of the Army’s Kiowa helicopters has been delayed until December 2019, “due to delays in the Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS) project”. No further elaboration was provided.

Meanwhile, the PBS details that there are ongoing issues with sustainment of the Army’s Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters.

“ARH Rate of Effort continues to be impacted by poor sustainment support resulting in reduced aircraft availability and aircrew numbers at 1 Aviation Regiment,” the budget statements notes.

Separately, the DMO section of the PBS notes: “During 2014-15, the focus will be on improving the availability of spare parts to enable the Army to generate increasing flying rates of effort to support capability milestones. The outcomes of a strategic review of the through-life support contract will also be implemented; the review is intended to address the price basis of the contract and improve aircraft support. ”

VH-92 chosen as next US Presidential helo

The Sikorsky VH-92 has been named as the US Navy’s Presidential Helicopters Replacement Program (VXX) winner.

Sikorsky was the sole bidder for the program, and has been awarded a US$1. 24bn (A$1. 32bn) engineering and manufacturingdevelopment (EMD) contract to deliver two VH-92 development aircraft in 2018, and four operational evaluation aircraft.

The contract announcement says it will look to integrate “mature mission systems into an existing in-production aircraft in order to minimise the cost of developing and testing a new design”, so as to avoid a repeat of the previous failed effort to develop the AW101.

The final VXX requirement is for a 21 aircraft fleet to be in service by 2023 to replace the Marine Corps’ 11 VH-3D and eight VH-60N machines which entered service the 1970s and 1980s respectively. The VH-92s will join a fleet of 12 MV-22 Ospreys which replaced a similar number of VH‑46s in the presidential fleet in 2013.

The current VXX program is a retender of the program that was cancelled in June 2009 after dramatic cost escalations and integration problems with the program. The VH-71 Kestrel as it was labelled by US prime contractor Lockheed Martin was a development of the AW101, and was selected in 2004 ahead of the S-92 to replace the VH-3s by 2010.

But the development and production program for just 24 helicopters blew out to morethan US$13 billion, and the VH-3s have received a structural and systems upgrade to take them out beyond 2020.

CH-53K unveiled – named King Stallion

The first Sikorsky CH-53K has been rolled out at a ceremony at the company’s Long Beach facility in Florida.

Named King Stallion as a tribute to its CH-53E Sea Stallion lineage, the new CH-53K is a larger and almost completely new machine with far greater capabilities, despite sharing a similar mould line.

“The CH-53K aircraft will effectively triple the external load carrying capacity of the CH-53E aircraft – to more than [13,000kg] over a mission radius of [200km],” Sikorsky president Mick Maurer said at the rollout. “With its [42,000kg] maximum gross weight, powerful new engines, lightweight composite structure, new rotor blades and fly-by-wire flight controls, the CH-53K will have the means to move troops and equipment from ship to shore, and to higher altitude terrain, more quickly and effectively than ever before. ” The CH-53K is powered by three General Electric T408 engines which provide 57 per cent more power while using 20 per cent less fuel than the CH-53E’s T64 turboshafts.

The rollout closely follows the commencement of full system testing of its CH-53K ground test vehicle with all seven main rotor blades and four tail rotor blades attached.

The tests follow the previous ‘light off’ and ‘bare head’ test phases which saw the aircraft’s engines started and gearbox engaged for the first time, and is the start of a two-year test program of the GTV’s entire dynamic component system.

Sikorsky expects to commence a 2,000 hour flight test campaign later this year. The USMC has a requirement for more than 200 of the CH-53Ks to replace its fleet of Vietnam-era CH‑53Es in service from 2017.

R66 granted EASA certification

The Robinson R66 turbine has finally been granted EASA certification, some four years after being certified by the US FAA.

The certification allows the R66 to be sold in EASA member countries. The company says this is an important milestone as two-thirds of its sales are outside of its US homemarket, and it can start delivering its backlog of European orders.

Robinson has 16 service centres and 13 dealers approved in Europe for the five-seat R66.

The delays in gaining EASA certification were initially attributed to cracks found in locking nuts on the machine which were traced to a manufacturing process error and have subsequently been resolved.

But whereas the FAA granted Robinson a waiver over a requirement to have a primary hydraulics system backup on the R66, EASA would not initially accept that waiver and would not certify the machine to fly without flight control hydraulic power assistance in the event of an emergency.

To date, more than 500 R66s have been sold and the fleet has accrued more than 160,000 hours.

RAN MH-60Rs commence sonar dipping training

The RAN’s NUSQN 725 MH‑60R Romeo Seahawk training unit embedded with US Navy training squadrons at NAS Jacksonville in Florida has started dipping sonar operations.

The unit has received, installed and calibrated its first Airborne Low Frequency Sonar System (ALFS), and has been conducting trials in an exercise area off the Florida coast.

The ALFS comprises the dipping transducer, a reeling machine, and onboard processors.

NUSQN 725 is due to start a “phased return” to Australiafrom October where it will be commissioned at its home base of HMAS Albatross near Nowra before Christmas.

In other Romeo news, Lockheed Martin has delivered an MH-60R electronic warfare support system (EWSS) to the RAN.

Built in its Adelaide facility, the EWSS will provide the RAN with the organic ability to generate and test unique Australian mission data loads for the electronic support measures (ESM) systems of the Romeo fleet when it enters service in 2015.

The Romeo’s ESM is a highly capable system which provides situational awareness and threat warning by scanning the electromagnetic spectrum to acquire, identify, and locate threat radar signals. The EWSS will allow a comprehensive and sovereign threat library to be developed and loaded into the helicopter.

Navy Sea King crew recognised for QLD flood rescue

The Governor of NSW, Marie Bashir has presented the crew of a former Navy Sea King with the Group Bravery Citation at Government House in Sydney, in recognition of their exemplary rescue efforts during the 2011 Queensland floods.

The crew – Commander Scott Palmer, Lieutenant Simon Driessen, Chief Petty Officer Kerwyn Ballico and Petty Officer Nicholas Anderson – risked their lives in terrible weather after the ‘inland tsunami’ flood that consumed properties near Laidley in the Lockyer Valley to safely conduct a rescue.

“The conduct of the Sea King helicopter crew was spontaneous, professional, exhausting and well beyond that ordinarily expected of such personnel,” the former Commanding Officer of 817SQN, Commander Paul Moggach said.

CMDR Moggach said the crew of ‘Shark 21’ was conducting flood relief and evacuation operations at Laidley and conducted a winch rescue of a person from a tree which he described as an extremely skilful and courageous piece of airmanship.

Northrop awarded MQ-8C EW contract

Northrop Grumman has been awarded a US$10. 8m (A$11. 7m) contract to develop an electronic warfare payload for its MQ-8C Fire Scout vertical takeoff unmanned aerial system (VTUAS).

The contract provides for initial work to develop and integrate the Multi Capability Pod (MCAP) onto the Fire Scout to provide “multiple electronic warfare sensors for employment in the littorals”, and provides funding for two MCAP pods and one MCAP mass model for flight trials.

The US Navy currently has contracts for 28 MQ-8Cs and a program of record for up to 100 machines, but these are currently under review due in part to a reduction in the US Navy’s planned Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) fleet and in Congress as part of the FY15 Defense budget process.