Black Hawk reborn

And that means the agreement might just be the start of something big for the Brisbane-headquartered helicopter support company, which has identified considerable interest in the commercial use of the Black Hawk.

“To get an OEM-endorsed refurbished Black Hawk you need to speak to Sikorsky Australia, and so we are very proud of that,” Andrew Rushbrook, general manager of Sikorsky Australia, tells Australian Aviation.

Besides having this all-important endorsement as a selling point, Sikorsky gets the pick of the bunch when it comes to selecting the most suitable helicopters from those being divested through the US Army’s Utility Helicopter Project Office.

“The concept is that we are able to look at these aircraft; look at the quality of them, look at the airworthiness side to them, and pick off the best aircraft that can be picked off the line, prior to the rest of them going up for auction for other people to bid on,” Rushbrook explains.

The helicopters to be operated by StarFlight will be put through a three-month refurbishment program, receiving new engines and upgraded gearboxes, having a helicopter terrain awareness and warning system (HTAWS) installed, and undergoing a general overhaul.

“There are certain parts within there that are life-limited and we will be changing them to give them a new lease of life, and then we would be in general looking at the state of the airframe, looking at taking panels off, looking at corrosion, looking at cracks, repairing those,” says Rushbrook.

“What you would be virtually getting off the line will be a completely refreshed aircraft, and what we hope is that we will keep it airworthy for quite literally decades to come.”

The contract is with Kaan Air, which established the StarFlight Australia joint venture with LifeFlight (formerly CareFlight). The agreement, which was announced at the end of July, covers the refurbishment and maintenance of 10 helicopters with an option for an additional 10.

In fact, work on the first prototype aircraft, which is currently in Alabama, is already nearly complete. And the second aircraft will also be refurbished in the US.

Work on the rest of the fleet is due to begin at Sikorsky Australia’s headquarters in Brisbane from the first quarter of next year, with the initial batch of 10 helicopters expected to be ready by the end of 2019.

The company is aiming to be working on three aircraft at a time, but has factored in potentially slowing down if it decides to wait for the right helicopter to become available as they are divested.

“We have a team in Alabama that are working in conjunction with us,” says Rushbrook.

“As the aircraft become available for inspection, we actually have a detailed, 240-point inspection that looks at the condition of the aircraft, looks at what it has been used for, looks at its airworthiness state, and then makes a recommendation to us as to whether we should consider purchasing that aircraft.”

Looking beyond Australia, where it is pursuing Black Hawk opportunities in partnership with StarFlight, Sikorsky Australia is hoping to secure similar work from other countries, subject to gaining export approval from the US government.

The company is bullish about its prospects, having already received an expression of interest in the helicopter refurbishment program from Asia.

International outlook

Global security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin completed its acquisition of Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in November 2015.

Sikorsky Australia represents a significant proportion of Lockheed Martin’s activities in Australia, with its workforce accounting for more than 260 out of the 800 or so employees of Lockheed Martin Australia.

The company employs 110 people at its main site in Brisbane, and has 102 in Nowra in New South Wales working on the Royal Australian Navy’s MH-60R Seahawk ‘Romeo’ combat helicopter.

In addition, Sikorsky Australia supports the S-70A-9 Black Hawk for the Australian Army’s 6th Aviation Regiment, with 34 people located in Sydney and 20 in Townsville as an integral part of the maintenance system for the battlefield helicopter.

The company is actively engaged in pursuing work beyond Australia.

“We have quite a global focus right now, in the sense that we do have teams that are ready to go off site at a moment’s notice; so at the moment, for instance, we have a team in Brazil,” Rushbrook tells Australian Aviation, speaking at Sikorsky’s facility in Brisbane.

“We have been dealing with Africa; we have some contracts that are coming up for Middle Eastern activity that we hope to pursue and to secure, so we have already got this global perspective to us.”

Sikorsky Australia’s expansion plans include a particular interest in opportunities to provide services in support of South-East Asian customers.

“We obviously do MRO-type services, but we have a range of components and spare parts, being Sikorsky, that we can also supply, so we are looking at expanding those,” Rushbrook continues.

As a former commanding officer of the RAN’s 816 Squadron with 20 years of aircrew experience in the ‘Bravo’ model Seahawk, taking on the role of general manager of Sikorsky Australia is “a great fit” for Rushbrook, who has been in the job since March.

About 60 per cent of Sikorsky Australia’s income is derived from military work, while the other 40 per cent comes from commercial work.

The company certainly plans to be supporting the RAN over the long term, with the Sikorsky/Lockheed Martin MH-60R being the focus of its major military contract. As things stand, the Romeo contract is due to expire in December 2019, although there is an option for a one-year extension at that point.

“That is coming up for competition, but we would like to think that we are going to be around for 30 years supporting the Romeo throughout its entire life,” says Rushbrook.

“And on our commercial side, that is very much traditional pure commercial business development; hunting and gathering, if you like, for our next meal.”

Defence signed a letter of acceptance with the US government under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program in June 2011 for the sustainment of the MH-60R capability until December 2020.

“Defence is currently pursuing a follow-on support strategy beyond December 2020 that will see the relationship continue with the US Navy under the FMS program,” a spokesperson for Defence told sister publication Australian Defence Business Review.

“The follow-on program will take account of the lessons learnt to date and seek to increase opportunities for Australian industry.”

Romeo support

Sikorsky Australia is starting to ramp up its work on the Romeo in Nowra, where it supports the RAN’s fleet of 24 helicopters.

“As the Navy starts to flex in its growing rate of effort with regard to the Romeo, we are seeing that coming through with regard to maintenance and preparation of the aircraft as they start to really use them out at sea,” says Rushbrook.

“We have also been involved in overseas operations in support of the Navy…and at short notice we have been able to supply teams and fly them to different areas in the world to support them.”

As well as conducting planned maintenance tasks, Sikorsky Australia’s workforce performs all of the Australian-unique modifications after the helicopters are taken out of storage.

People have been recruited from the RAN and Army; some have come from BAE Systems, having worked on the ‘classic’ S-70B-2 Seahawk, and others are former Qantas employees.

“We have had quite a rapid ramp up. We have done a lot of recruiting over the last four to five months; we have brought on 40 additional maintainers into our Nowra facility,” says Rushbrook.

We have had quite a rapid ramp up. Andrew Rushbrook

“It has been very much a challenge for us to keep up with the program, but we feel that we have been able to do that quite well, and we are now finding our real stride in maintaining, and working with the Navy and the US Navy to support them.”

Romeo customers other than the US are looking to the RAN model, with representatives of Saudi Arabia having spent time in Australia learning about how the helicopter is being supported for an operator with a relatively small fleet size.

The spokesperson for Defence described how in February a party including representatives of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF), Lockheed Martin and Atheeb Group visited the Romeo training and support facilities at HMAS Albatross and the Albatross Aviation Technology Park.

“The visit enabled the Saudi delegation to gain a better understanding of facility requirements for MH-60R training and maintenance support,” the spokesperson said.

“The RSNF is purchasing 10 MH-60R helicopters from the US through the US FMS program; Atheeb is Lockheed Martin’s industry partner in Saudi Arabia, and will have a significant role in training and supporting the RSNF MH-60R.

“Defence facilitated this visit as an opportunity to enhance its relationship with the US Navy and industry.”

Meanwhile, the S-70B-2 Seahawk is due to be fully withdrawn from RAN service in December. Earlier this year, Defence offered 11 airframes and associated inventory for commercial sale.

A spokesperson for Defence stated that the selection process is currently being finalised, following the close of the request for tender in April.

“The sale of complete Seahawks to foreign governments is not a value for money proposition for either party,” the spokesperson said in answer to questions regarding the sale.

“In coming to this assessment, Defence considered many factors such as remaining useful life [and] refurbishment costs.”

Sikorsky Australia considered this opportunity, but did not pursue it.

“As the Bravo model Seahawk has been coming to the end of its life, that means the work that we have been doing with regard to those, which has included supply of components, blade work, and also on occasions we have been doing planned maintenance on them as an overflow, that is all coming to an end; obviously the 24 Romeos have then really picked up our activity and covered the Bravo,” says Rushbrook.

Diversification strategy

For a company that is aiming to expand into new markets, Sikorsky Australia already boasts an impressively diverse range of helicopters at its Brisbane facility, from a Royal Thai Navy S-70B-7 Seahawk that is going through a complete refurbishment to a Sikorsky S-92 that is undergoing a world-first titanium frame change.

Also in the hangar is Australian Army Black Hawk A25-104, undergoing planned maintenance lasting about four to six weeks, with Sikorsky’s facility being used in this case as surge capacity.

There is a Bell 412 operated by logistics company Toll that has recently been used in the Solomon Islands to support the Australian Federal Police.

And another 412, this one from the Botswana Defence Force, that is being put through a major refurbishment. This is the third aircraft that Sikorsky Australia has worked on for Botswana, with the first having been inducted in 2014.

“Everything is taken off and inspected, all the panels are removed,” says Rushbrook. “It will go out of here looking like it had just come off the production line.”

It will go out of here looking like it had just come off the production line. Andrew Rushbrook

The aforementioned Royal Thai Navy S-70B-7, which is similar to the RAN’s classic Seahawk, is one of three that Sikorsky Australia has been tasked with refurbishing under a program designed specifically for this customer.

The company received the first aircraft in January 2015; the third is currently in the Brisbane hangar, and Sikorsky Australia is looking to secure work on the rest of the six-strong fleet.

“That has been quite a large piece of work; it is a complete refurbishment of the aircraft, looking at all aspects,” says Rushbrook. “The engines will go off to [another company] and we will look at the maintenance, repair and overhaul of the entire airframe itself and pretty much bring it up to a pristine level, ready to go back into service.”

Rushbrook points out the S-92 helicopter that is undergoing a titanium frame replacement, declaring that this is the first time this procedure has ever been done ‘in the field’ anywhere in the world.

The whole airframe is contained within a bubble of plastic and heated up, and holes are drilled to within the width of a human hair.

“To make sure that when we are adjusting or inserting the securing bolts that there is no contraction or expansion, it is exactly where it needs to be, we wrap it up in plastic and we heat it up to a particular temperature; we wait five hours and then we note that all of the metal there is at the one temperature, and then we will start to do some work on it,” Rushbrook explains.

“When we drill the holes, if they were at different temperatures, by the time they contract to one temperature we will get slight movements. What you will find is down the track you will start to get hairline cracks through the system.

“So this is very much about a very particular type of work to ensure that there is no generation of cracks or weak points in that frame, that may not be evident now but may come in 10 years’ time.”

Besides the S-92 that is in the hangar, which is used to transport personnel to offshore platforms, this process is being replicated on another helicopter in Brazil, and will probably also be carried out for a Middle Eastern customer.

“We are very proud of that, that we possess here the technical ability to be able to do that outside of mainstream Sikorsky back in the US,” says Rushbrook, emphasising that this technique was developed in Brisbane.

“We are not just a hangar that performs maintenance. We have very highly qualified and specialised maintainers and engineers; we have our own design engineering capability here.”

And in what Rushbrook describes as another world-first, Sikorsky Australia is undertaking a tail boom change on an S-92 in Saudi Arabia.