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Eurocopter EC135 selected for Boeing, Thales ADF bid

The Eurocopter EC135 has been selected as the preferred platform for Boeing and Thales bid for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) Project AIR 9000 Phase 7 – Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS).

Boeing Defence Australia and Thales Australia are bidding to develop an integrated, cost-effective and low-risk aircrew training system for the ADF, which will now centre on the EC135 platform. The helicopter is already part of successful training systems in Germany, Switzerland, Spain, and Japan, and in Australia with the Victorian and New South Wales police forces.

According to the companies their proposed solution draws on Boeing's sophisticated design tools and extensive aircrew training systems experience, combined with Thales' simulation capabilities, to deliver an ab initio rotary wing training system for all Royal Australian Navy and Australian Army helicopter aircrew.

Becker Avionics DVCS6100 selected for UH-72A Lakota

Becker Avionics has announced that its Digital Voice Communication System (DVCS 6100) has been selected for the US Army’s new UH-72A Lakota Mission Equipment Package (MEP) aircraft, a variant of the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH). Becker Avionics made the announcement in a 26 January 2012 company statement.

Programme plans call for 100 MEP variants of the UH-72A, which are intended to support the Army National Guard’s Security and Support (S&S) Battalion Mission. Lakota helicopters in the S&S Battalion configuration enable Army National Guard units to seamlessly support state and local law enforcement and federal homeland security agencies in responding to natural disasters, law enforcement and border security operations.

The first Lakota equipped with the Security and Support (S&S) Battalion Mission Equipment Package (MEP) entered into operational service with the Mississippi National Guard’s Company C, 1st of the 114th Security and Support Battalion in late 2011. According to the company, the system offers ‘superior system capabilities, Product Reliability and Support, unmatched operational flexibility, mission tested performance, NVG compatibility out of the box, and proven Man-machine interface’.

The Army recently awarded EADS North America a contract to deliver 39 UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopters (LUH) this year. Currently there 198 UH-72A Lakota’s in operation with the US Army National Guard, plus five H-72A versions with the US Navy, dedicated to test pilot training at Pax River MD. With the new contract award of 39 additional aircraft, the total Lakota programme now surpasses 270 aircraft.

Northrop Grumman, US Navy test UCAS refuelling

Northrop Grumman and the US Navy successfully completed a series of flight tests to demonstrate technology that could help extend the operating range and flight duration of future carrier-based unmanned systems. The testing was carried out on the X-47B UAV on 21 January 2012 in St Augustine, US.

The testing proved the functionality of the hardware and software that will enable the X-47B unmanned aircraft to demonstrate autonomous aerial refuelling (AAR) in 2014. The AAR activity is part of the Navy's Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration (UCAS-D) program. Northrop Grumman is the Navy's UCAS-D prime contractor.

The AAR tests were conducted by a Northrop Grumman/Navy team using Calspan’s Variable Stability Learjet as the X-47B surrogate aircraft, and a K707 tanker provided by Omega Air Refuelling. The tests included simulated flight demonstrations of both boom/receptacle and probe-and-drogue aerial refuelling techniques. No fuel was exchanged between the aircraft during the test events.

According to Northrop Grumman, the Learjet surrogate was equipped with real or functional equivalents of the navigation systems, flight control processor and vision system that the X-47B will use to conduct refuelling operations. The aircraft contained no refuelling receptacle or refuelling probe. The K707, which is nearly identical in size and shape to an Air Force KC-135, was equipped with a Navy style refuelling drogue only.

For each simulated refuelling event, the Learjet/X-47B surrogate was piloted to a rendezvous position approximately one nautical mile from the tanker. Then the pilot transferred control of the aircraft to the X-47B's autonomous flight control processor, which controlled the Learjet during the test event.

The Northrop Grumman/Navy test team plans to conduct additional AAR surrogate testing using the same aircraft when flight-qualified versions of the relevant X-47B hardware and software become available.

The UCAS-D program plans to demonstrate in 2013 the ability of the tailless, autonomous, low-observable relevant X-47B demonstrator to safely operate from a Navy aircraft carrier, including launch, recovery, bolter and wave-off performance, followed by the autonomous aerial refuelling in 2014. The programme also plans to mature technologies required for potential future Navy unmanned air system programmes.

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UK Government to force collaboration in National Police Air Service

The UK is advancing its plans for a National Police Air Service (NPAS), with the government getting ready to mandate those forces standing in the project's way.

The plans for NPAS represent a radical shake-up in the way British police forces provide air support. Rather than each force having its own helicopter patrolling its region, the new national service will be responsible for the whole of England and Wales and be operated from one central command centre.

While the plan has the approval of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and most of the UK police authorities, several have expressed alarm at the proposals and turned down entry to the project.

In a speech about police transformation made on 26 January, policing minister Nick Herber said he was concerned that several police authorities were still living in an 'era of police fiefdoms'.

'I am, in exceptional cases of last resort, prepared to mandate where a small minority of authorities or forces create a barrier to significant savings. I intend to make an order requiring the police service to collaborate in the provision of air support,’ Herber said.

'This order will be made using the new powers brought in by the police reform and social responsibility act. It will require all authorities and forces to collaborate in the provision of air support through a single collaboration agreement for England and Wales.'

One of the authorities unhappy about NPAS was South Yorkshire Police Authority, which is concerned about the lengthened response times from the bases that would serve the county.

ACPO National Police Air Service lead, Chief Constable Alex Marshall. said: 'The policing minister's intentions to make an order requiring the police service to collaborate in the provision of air service supports the National Police Air Service (NPAS) proposals for a truly national, borderless service.

'The NPAS proposal has been widely supported by chief constables and police authorities and the project team and I will continue to work with forces and authorities to develop the national service, with the priority being a strong operational service and effective coverage delivered in the most cost effective way.'

The NPAS plan is reduce the number of aircraft in England and Wales from the current 31 across 29 bases to 23 (plus three spares) across 20 geographically evenly spread bases.

This means that, under the NPAS basing structure, helicopters will be distributed more efficiently, so that at least one aircraft is able to reach 56% of the country’s population within ten minutes, 87% in 15 minutes and 99% within a 35-minute flight time. It is hoped that the scheme will shave around £15 million a year from the current annual air support cost of £70 million.

Pentagon cancels Global Hawk Block 30 programme

The US Department of Defence (DOD) has announced that it is planning to cancel the Global Hawk 30 programme in favour of the Lockheed Martin U-2 aircraft. The DOD made the announcement as part of a spending review on 26 January 2012.

The change will see the Block 30 programme capped at a total of 21 aircraft, fourteen of which have already been delivered. The US Air Force (USAF) was previously on target to receive another ten aircraft under the existing project.

Northrop Grumman released a statement on the news, saying, ‘Northrop Grumman is disappointed with the Pentagon's decision, and plans to work with the Pentagon to assess alternatives to program termination.

‘The Global Hawk program has demonstrated its utility in US military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, as well as its utility in humanitarian operations in Japan and Haiti. Just a few months ago, the Pentagon published an acquisition decision memorandum regarding Global Hawk Block 30 that stated: 'The continuation of the program is essential to the national security... there are no alternatives to the program which will provide acceptable capability to meet the joint military requirement at less cost.'

‘Global Hawk is the modern solution to providing surveillance. It provides long duration persistent surveillance, and collects information using multiple sensors on the platform. In contrast, the aging U-2 program, first introduced in the 1950s, places pilots in danger, has limited flight duration, and provides limited sensor capacity. Extending the U-2's service life also represents additional investment requirements for that program.

‘Northrop Grumman is committed to working with our customers to provide the best solutions for our country and our allies. We are pleased with the continuing support for the Global Hawk Block 40 system, as well as for the Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance system and our other unmanned systems.’

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AFCEA West 2012: Hybrid aerostat nears completion

Sofcoast's efforts to develop the Small Tactical Hybrid Aerostat are coming to fruition, with the CEO of the company predicting it is near completion.

John Surmont told Shephard at the AFCEA West conference in San Diego, US on 26 January that the aerostat has been in development for more than four years, and he expects it to be ready by the end of this year.

'This system was created out of a necessity. There is not a simple way for the soldier in the military to put a sensor in the sky easily,' he explained.

'Why do we have to have complex multi-million dollar platforms? Hybridising is a way of delivering something persistent.'

The aerostat combines the benefits of an aircraft, balloon and kite. Surmont said previous efforts to develop a balloon-based system have never been thought through enough, and large aerostats are too expensive for this short-term battalion requirement.

The company currently has a 'mature prototype' and is working with the DoD and industry to develop the system.

It contains aircraft wings for stabilisation, and currently an EO/IR payload, while Sofcoast is still in discussions with six possible manufacturers for the payload. Surmont also confirmed that some 6-10 other companies had expressed interest while at the conference in providing the payload.

'Our goal as this is perfected is to develop something everybody can use,' Surmont said. 'We think hybrid aviation is the answer. We are incorporating lighter than air technology, not avoiding it.'

The system takes 30 minutes to set up, and Surmont described the system as a way to 'efficiently handle logistics'.

Meanwhile, sister association Relief is set to conduct its next round of quarterly testing at the AFCEA East show in May.

Relief facilitates research and experimentation for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions, and uses UAVs as part of a network to test this.

It is a DoD project, and leverages off commercial experience to experiment in situational awareness, Samuel Bendett, a research analyst for the TIDES project at the Center for Technology and National Security Policy told Shephard at the conference.

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