Ringing Bells

So what is not a surprise is that since the White Paper’s release manufacturers have been dusting off their military product catalogues earlier than they would have thought to put forward a range of potential solutions to meet these rotary-wing requirements.

Bell Helicopter’s regional director for international military business development, John Woodbery, in Canberra in late July to continue talks with Defence, spoke with Australian Aviation about potential opportunities for Bell’s AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter, UH-1Y Venom utility helicopter and even the Bell/Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor for Australia.

“The White Paper calls for Australia to have an outward-facing, strategically engaged capability capable of being forward deployed,” said Woodbery, an ex-US Army helicopter pilot of 27 years. “We [Bell Helicopter] are the only company that makes a built-for-purpose at point of manufacture, marinised attack helicopter that is in service with the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and is afloat on ships right now in the Pacific region. The amphibious capability is a key component to the Defence White Paper and the direction in which Australia is moving its strategic mindset. I believe that in itself gives us the ability to talk – we are a viable option. ” Woodbery stressed that helicopter ‘marinisation’ is more that just anti-corrosion. “It’s the ability and compatibility of the aircraft to operate safely and cheaply on the deck of a ship. ” As a sign of its seriousness to market the type to the ADF, Bell signed a teaming agreement BAE Systems Australia at the Singapore Airshow in February, ahead of the White Paper’s launch, positioning the two companies to offer the AH-1Z as a potential Tiger ARH replacement. This agreement would see BAE Systems Australia provide maintenance and support services for the AH-1Z in Australia.

“For us to be competitive in this we had to have a good Australian industry partner and come to the table with a complete program showing where we are going to reduce risk,” said Woodbery. “We have signed one teaming agreement with BAE Systems Australia and we are getting ready to make that a memorandum of understanding with the purpose of the whole market concept. Right now, the teaming agreement covers just the Zulu, but we’re looking to expand that relationship for any other platforms we can be competitive with that the ADF is looking for. ”

An aircraft that will wake up and go to work for you every morning. JOHN WOODBERY

A pair of General Electric T700-GE-401C turbine engines (common to the RAN’s new MH-60R Romeo) pushes the AH-1Z to a 200kt maximum airspeed over a 131nm combat radius. The Viper is fitted with a turret-mounted M197 20mm cannon and Lockheed Martin’s target sight system incorporating a third-generation FLIR sensor. Under its four wing stations the Viper can carry Hellfire missiles, 70mm and 127mm Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) precision laser-guided rockets, and a pair of AIM-9 air-to-air missiles. Indeed the Zulu is the only attack helicopter in the world with a fully-integrated AIM-9 missile capability.

“I think we are just as lethal if not more so than say the Apache because of the AIM-9,” said Woodbery. “The AIM-9 does more than just provide air cover to guys on the ground once they are ashore. Its also augments air defence of the ship. ”

A Venomous Special Forces helicopter?

But it is not just the AH-1Z as a Tiger replacement that Bell has its eye on. Woodbery said Bell is pitching its armed utility UH-1Y Venom to meet the deployable light reconnaissance and attack requirement.

“Our H-1 program is two aircraft – Viper and Venom,” said Woodbery. “They are both brand new helicopters and not remanufactures of AH-1Ws or UH-1Ns. They have three times the capabilities of their predecessors and share 85 per cent parts commonality by design. You can take a rotor blade off a Yankee and throw it on a Zulu. You can pull the multi-function display screen out of a Zulu and stick it in a Yankee. You can take a pilot out of a Zulu and put them in a Yankee because the systems in the cockpits are perfectly the same. ” Continues Woodbery, “The Marines have done some studies where the 85 per cent parts commonality is going to save them billions of dollars over the out years. It certainly will save them space on the ship because sharing spares, sharing tooling, personnel, training all adds to saving space and there is also the cost savings. With the Yankee I believe this is where our true value proposition is. ” The Venom’s standard kit comes with launchers to fire APKWS, a target-designating FLIR and door-mounted guns. The Yankee can carry 10 troops, fly at 140kt and can be folded and roll straight on and off a Boeing C-17 Globemaster.

“We don’t know yet what the exact requirements are for the special forces helicopter, but what we want to drum home is if you buy both these aircraft, Zulu for ARH replacement and Yankee for Special Forces, you are going to save money in the long run. It would be like getting three aircraft for the price of two. With 85 per cent of parts in common there is no way you are going to lose on that deal. ”

Mind the gap

But despite its benefits of marinisation, commonality with the UH-1Y as a potential Special Forces platform and interoperability with the US Marine Corps, Woodbery does acknowledge there are challenges in marketing the AH-1Z in Australia.

Foremost of those is that on current orders production is due to wind up with the last delivery to the USMC in 2021, unless further international sales are achieved.

Pakistan is Bell’s first international customer for the AH-1Z but its order for up to 15 aircraft will be delivered by August 2018.

“We are looking at other international opportunities beyond Pakistan and I would include Australia. The production timeline is problematic as there is a 33-month lag time between contract signing and when the first aircraft is delivered. I would like to think if a Tier 1 ally like Australia said they were interested in the Viper, but were not going to be able to take it until such time, I would like to think the US Government could sell what they wanted regardless of the timeline. As the manufacturer, we have to worry about production lines going cold, but from a practical standpoint, the US Government selling to the Australian Government needs to be considered. It’s a little problematic in some senses but it’s not a show stopper. ” Woodbery is also confident that the Viper’s (and the Zulu’s) current lack of a digital datalink won’t also be a show stopper.

Next year, Bell will lease back an AH-1Z from the USMC to integrate Link 16 and MUMT (manned/unmanned teaming) technology, the ability to control unmanned aerial systems from the helicopter, to help the Marines move faster ahead of a spiral upgrade program planned for 2023 to modernise its H-1 fleet.

“The Marines just did not buy Link 16 when they took to fielding the Zulu,” said Woodbery. “All our potential customers are looking for that type of technology and they are not going to wait until 2023 to get it. We recognise the number one key issue for the ADF is to be digitally linked on the battlefield. I feel safe in saying for our international customers who want Link 16 on the aircraft, we are going to make it happen. ” In the meantime, Australia’s exposure to the AH-1Z continues to grow, with Deputy Chief of Army Major General Rick Burr flying in the front seat of a Viper at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California in late July. The pilot? An Australia Tiger ARH pilot from 1 Aviation Regiment in Darwin on exchange with the USMC.

“Slowly but surely we are getting that top level exposure to the technology and the aircraft,” said Woodbery. “Our biggest issue from a business development standpoint is we don’t have a physical aircraft to showcase. We have to borrow it from a nearby Marine Expeditionary Unit. ” The USMC’s annual troop rotations to Darwin does bring with it regular deployments of UH-1Y Yankees and MV-22s to Australian soil, but it will still be some time before a Zulu is seen in Australia.

“There is a big push to get Zulus in Darwin,” said Woodbery. “It’s a matter of when they are going to be in the hands of the units that are doing rotations through Australia and their fielding plan. Right now we have delivered 46 Zulus to the Marines out of 179. By the end of 2017 our goal is to have 96 in the fleet. ”

Tiger at sea

First of class flight trials for the Army’s Tiger ARHs aboard HMAS Canberra in the first quarter of 2017 shapes as a critical milestone in how the Tiger replacement program progresses.

“Being a former Army pilot I can tell you Army helicopters land on ships all the time,” Woodbery observes. “Operating on a ship hundreds of miles from home for an extended period of time is a different story. I’m sure Tiger will do swimmingly well landing on the deck of that ship. Helicopters can land anywhere. ” But, Woodbery notes, “Does it make sense to buy a land combat fighter aircraft and then throw it on a ship and hope things will be okay? Or put it on a ship when it doesn’t have the ability to fold and it can’t fit? Again, marinisation is more than just corrosion. ” And it is the White Paper’s emphasis on amphibious operations, Woodbery says, that is encouraging to Bell.

“That is music to our ears as we have an aircraft that does that, but not only is built for purpose and marinised at the point of manufacture, that can live and operate off a ship. If it’s as important as we think it is, then this should resonate with the ADF. They shouldn’t be buying an aircraft that they hope will be ok on the ship and find out later is rusting away. ”

CSAR

A more intriguing, longer-term opportunity Bell has identified is the IIP’s identification of the need for a dedicated long‐range combat search and rescue capability.

“When you talk to the Capability Development Group there is up to $3 billion set aside for that program for either a light, medium or heavy helicopter or a combination thereof. They have a huge task ahead of them to make a business case for whatever platform they want. But from my foxhole what I’m seeing, long-range SAR is the V-22 Osprey. And if they wait long enough, and if Bell is successful with the US Army’s Future Vertical Lift program, then the V-280 Valor tiltrotor. ” As it happens a USMC MV-22B Osprey landed on board an Australian LHD for the first time during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2016 off the north-east coast of Hawaii. The landings on HMAS Canberra on July 12 were conducted as part of a US Navy and USMC aviation integration program to clear its rotary-wing assets for operations from the Royal Australian Navy’s new amphibious assault ships. Both the AH-1W and UH-1Y (as well as the CH-53E Super Stallion) also operated off the Canberra as part of those trials.

The importance of industry

Whatever decisions are made on the Tiger’s replacement and a new Special Forces helicopter, Woodbery notes that a focus on Australian defence industry involvement will be important for any manufacturers’ bids.

“With BAE, we have to seriously look at what can be done and what falls into the realm of possible and show that we are serious about industry and innovation,” said Woodbery. “The more of an Australian face we can paint on this the better. It is imperative that you have to make jobs and industry happen in Australia.

“During the AIR 87 project [which led to the Tiger ARH’s acquisition], there were two US competitors and a European competitor. The European competitor came in here and offered jobs and offered industry. While perhaps it was not the best aircraft in the world, it didn’t matter as it was checking all these other boxes. So if we are to be really competitive in this, we have to really take this seriously and look at how we are going to bring industry capabilities to Australia. ”

Ringing Bells

One final advantage Woodbery offers is the AH-1Z’s acquisition and support costs, suggesting an AH-1Z fleet could be acquired for the cost of any mid-life upgrade for the Tiger.

“Instead of putting millions of dollars into a capability upgrade over the 10 years, for that amount of money you can buy brand new 22 Vipers – an aircraft that will wake up and go to work for you every morning and cost you a fraction to operate. And if you couple that with another program that uses an aircraft that is 85 per cent common then taxpayers are going to save another huge chunk of change. We are hoping this will ring some bells in the right places and get people to think. ” It is certainly a sales pitch that has the potential to make some noise.