National Defense Magazine -- September 2005
Safety Upgrades Could Delay New Presidential Helicopter
By Frank Colucci
The helicopter chosen to carry the nation's chief executive meets civil aviation safety requirements, but it will require modifications to satisfy more stringent military specifications, asserted officials at the Navy program office managing the effort.
Competition for the presidential helicopter replacement was heated. The Lockheed Martin/Agusta Westland US101, now called VH-71A, beat out a version of the Sikorsky S-92. Lockheed Martin's team includes AgustaWestland (aircraft design), Bell Helicopter (aircraft assembly) and General Electric (engines).
The US101 had been certified to civil standards before the current requirements-including overall crashworthiness, resistance to bird strikes and turbine burst protection-were introduced.
According to the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), certification requirements for new Navy and Marine aircraft are generally tougher than even the most modern civil safety standards. NAVAIR is a self-certifying agency and officials say they are now formulating criteria that should test the US101 to the agency's current standards.
Even though the US101 was chosen to meet an accelerated delivery schedule, testing to these criteria can take months to years, mentioned helicopter industry sources.
Citing security concerns, NAVAIR has adopted a policy of not publicly discussing vulnerabilities of the aircraft. However, how much "beefing-up" the US101 structure needs will determine the ultimate cost and risk of a program on a tight schedule.
NAVAIR accelerated the expected delivery of the initial four presidential helicopters from fiscal year 2013 to 2009, and full operational capability with 23 helicopters is slated for 2014. To meet this rushed schedule, Lockheed Martin and the Navy expect that the first variant of the VH-71A largely will be an off-the-shelf EH101 with upgraded engines and protective equipment, such as missile warning detectors and infrared countermeasures.
Future improvements will include more efficient main rotor blades, a revised tail rotor, more powerful engines, an up-rated transmission and a second cabin display. NAVAIR also expects the upgraded airframe to achieve a 10,000-hour service life, matching today's VH-60N presidential helicopter.
Once in service with Marine Squadron HMX-1, the new helicopter must give the president safe and timely transportation with "office-in-the-sky" capability. "That's a flying communications center, not just a taxi cab," explained NAVAIR program manager Doug Isleib. "The VIPs on board must have connectivity and command capability anywhere we take them."
Yet despite the emphasis on safety and high-tech systems, NAVAIR based 60 percent of the US101's technical score on helicopter cabin volume, according to the Congressional Research Service. The manufacturer's brochures show the US101 cabin to be 1 foot, 5 inches wider and 3 feet longer than the basic S-92. Sikorsky lengthened the S-92.
The wider EH101 was designed to withstand 15 g's (gravity forces) vertical impacts without major cabin deformation, according to Agusta Westland.
However, current standards specify higher crash loads with vertical, longitudinal, and lateral components.
Stephen Moss, president of Agusta Westland, insists the basic EH101 designed in the early 1980s meets all current safety criteria. Pat Deward, Lockheed Martin's US101 program manager, says the aircraft is close to modern requirements, and adds, "We'll do exactly what NAVAIR wants us to do."
Deward said the US101 will be an all-aluminum airframe. The basic EH101 structure is currently constructed with approximately 15 percent composite materials, but Lockheed Martin now plans to substitute aluminum to address crashworthiness and other requirements.
One former helicopter industry executive speculates that the redesign will require heavier frames throughout the US101 structure, and a new round of ground testing before the first presidential helicopter flies. Based on the helicopter industry's track record, that process could take three years or more.
The urgency attached to the program made the schedule a key concern for NAVAIR. Lockheed Martin and Agusta Westland delivered the sophisticated EH101 anti-submarine warfare helicopter to the British Royal Navy five years late and 1.16 billion British pounds over budget, according to a U.K. national audit office report.
Ironically, the Sikorsky S-92 that failed to win the contract already features pioneering safety innovations now required of all new rotorcraft. In 2002, it became the first helicopter civil certified under new federal airworthiness regulations.
By comparison, the EH101 was certified in 1994, when fewer regulations were in effect.
The National Aeronautics Association recognized the S-92 for its safety, performance, and efficiency with its 2002 Collier Trophy. "It was the innovations among the safety aspects that made it stand out among the other candidates," NAA vice chairman Skip Ringo recalled.
Lockheed maintains that changes to the EH101 will not delay the new Marine One. Stephen Ramsey, executive vice president for helicopter systems at Lockheed Martin, is quick to point out that the US101 now gives the U.S. government a mature air vehicle, already proven in service with the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, Italian Navy, Canadian Forces and Portuguese Air Force.
But some safety issues remain unresolved. A UK Merlin crash in March 2004 grounded the British and Canadian fleets and focused attention on cracks in the tail rotor hub. Lockheed Martin says it is working with the U.K. Ministry of Defense fixing the tail rotor problem. As of April 2005, Canadian maintenance officers could not explain the accelerated wear in other flight-critical components.
Again, to meet the aggressive schedule, Lockheed Martin officials said Agusta Westland will build four US101 pilot production aircraft in Yeovil, in the United Kingdom. Rotor blades, transmissions and other critical parts will be made in Italy and Britain.
Bell helicopter will assemble the fifth and subsequent aircraft in Amarillo, Texas. Presidential communications and protection systems will be integrated at the Lockheed Martin facilities in Owego, N.Y.
NAVAIR will not comment on the security risks inherent in manufacturing US101 components offshore, but says only the plan is in compliance with Federal Acquisition Regulations and the Procurement Integrity Act.
Navy officials say plans are underway to build a government-owned, contractor-operated presidential helicopter facility at Patuxent River, Md., so the aircraft need never be returned to an overseas factory for overhaul or modification.
The mixed fleet of VH-3D and VH-60N helicopters that currently supports the presidential mission includes 30-year old aircraft that were designed in the 1960s.
Lockheed Martin was awarded a $1.7 billion contract for the VH-71A's system development and demonstration phase. Engine tests on a contractor vehicle began in December 2004. Additional evaluations will begin at Owego with the first test aircraft, which arrived in June. Flight tests will transition to Patuxent River in 2006.
The program, worth nearly $6 billion, covers 23 VH-71 operational aircraft and three test aircraft at an expected cost of approximately $82 million per aircraft (Increment One) and approximately $110 million per aircraft in the final configuration. The VH-71A carries components provided by more than 200 suppliers in 41 states.