Fury at Def Sec over Helicopter Shortage

[Modern Elmo]

Googling back to yesteryear:

Westland relief at £1.2bn helicopter order

Friday, 10 March 1995



The Cabinet yesterday rejected the advice of RAF chiefs and approved a mixed £1.2bn order for 22 British-built EH101 helicopters and 14 US Chinook helicopters - to protect jobs and the long-term future of the industry.

The decision to order the helicopters from the Yeovil-based Westland will cost taxpayers an extra £300m and was taken after the Accounting Officer, Malcolm McIntosh, the Chief of Defence Procurement, advised ministers it would be lawful provided "the overall benefits outweigh the costs".

The RAF had been lobbying hard for an all-Chinook order to supplement its existing fleet of helicopters, based on a design that has been in service for more than 30 years, including the Korean war and Vietnam. ( No, no Chinooks in Korean War. --Elmo )

The announcement by Malcolm Rifkind, the Defence Secretary, was welcomed by MPs on all sides of the Commons, including Paddy Ashdown, who is MP for Yeovil. Tory MPs had warned the Government it would cost the Tories seats across the West Country if the Yeovil-based Westland company failed to win the contract.

Mr Rifkind said the EH101 was a modern design with operational flexibility but the Chinooks were required because only they could carry some large loads.

...

Michael Heseltine, the President of the Board of Trade and Mr Rifkind were key players in the decision to overrule the RAF demands. It was reached by a small inner circle of ministers on Tuesday night, and recommended to the full Cabinet.

The decision to go for the mixed order, after the disclosure in The Independent that the RAF was engaged in a bitter battle for an all-Chinook order, will protect some of the 8,000 jobs at the Westland group plants, including the Isle of Wight, a Tory marginal seat.

Mr Rifkind said the order would also protect 1,100 jobs a year for the next 30 years in Westland suppliers, including Rolls Royce at Bristol, Racal in Slough, and GEC Marconi plants.

Boeing, makers of the Chinook, regarded as a tried and tested workhorse, had fought hard to win the order by offering a 200 per cent offset deal for jobs in Britain, if the whole order was for Chinook.

The US company is aggressively seeking orders in Europe after the end of big procurement contracts by the Pentagon. It will provide a 100 per cent offset for the order for 14 new helicopters, which include six replacements for existing helicopters. Only eight were ordered for expansion of the RAF helicopter fleet.

The decision involved heavy infighting behind the scenes at the Ministry of Defence, but little ministerial dissent. Mr Heseltine, who stormed out of the Cabinet in 1986 in protest at the threat to the helicopter company from US competition, was firmly behind Mr Rifkind's decision.

It underlined the Government's determination to give priority to jobs and industry, over the operational demands of the armed services.

It follows the ministerial row last year which ended in victory for Mr Heseltine in winning a Government commitment to participate in the European Future Large Aircraft (FLA) project, while Mr Rifkind won approval for a £1bn order 25 US-built Hercules heavy-lift aircraft.

Westland relief at £1.2bn order - News - The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/westland-relief-at-16312bn-order-1610569.html)

[Modern Elmo]

Question: what is the mean altitude above mean sea level in the lower Helmand River Valley? I tend to think that "high and hot" is being used as an excuse.


* Caroline Davies
* guardian.co.uk, Friday 3 July 2009 17.13 BST

British troops have seized crucial canal crossings in the Taliban heartland as part of the US-led Operation Sword Strike to oust insurgents from the opium-producing province of Helmand, officials said today.

The push, said to be one of the largest British soldiers have made, is part of a wider offensive ... into the lower Helmand river valley in southern Afghanistan. ...

British troops seize canal crossings in push against Taliban in Afghanistan | World news | guardian.co.uk (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/03/british-troops-canal-crossing-taliban)

[scientia in alto]

Madbob
Q. heavy lift Chinooks. (How often do CH47's actually fly at max gross?) :ugh:
A. You have not been to Hellmand recently, 95% of the time they are brimming with kit or people, just look in the press for photos and comment Take helicopters, for instance. Last week General Sir Richard Dannatt, head of the army, flew in an American Black Hawk helicopter to visit British troops in Sangin, because no RAF Chinook or Sea King was available. Surely the Army chief would rate as a VIP and if at all possible our boys would have moved him (commanders OJAR moment)... it tells its own story.

SIA

[Modern Elmo]

Future Chinooks:

DATE:28/07/08
SOURCE:Flight International
US Army launches next-generation heavylift helicopter engine programme
By Stephen Trimble

US turboshaft engine makers are awaiting the first US Army contract awards that will launch an eight-year competition to replace the 47-year-old Honeywell T55 engine family. The army's Future Affordable Turbine Engine (Fate) aims to replace the T55 with a new engine in the 6,000-7,000shp (4,470-5,215kW) range to power either a growth version of the CH-47 Chinook or a follow-on rotorcraft. The goals for Fate include reducing specific fuel consumption by 35%, slashing production and maintenance costs each by 40-45% and improving shaft horsepower to weight ratio by 90%. The Army Aviation Technology Directorate is expected to soon award contracts ( Hasn't happened yet. -- Elmo ) ...

An all-new production engine would be available by the end of [ this ] decade. General Electric, Pratt & Whitney and Honeywell confirm they are participating in the Fate programme. Rolls-Royce, maker of the T406 and the AE1107C, has declined to comment.

Fate is proceeding even as the army continues to debate whether to launch an all-new Joint Heavy Lift rotorcraft, or perhaps invest in a growth version of the T55-powered Boeing CH-47 Chinook.( Joint Heavy Lift --> either big big helicopter or four engine tiltrotor capable of hovering with 28-30 short ton vehicle. -- Elmo )

Boeing confirms a decision to launch a growth Chinook has slipped from the FY2010 budgeting cycle to FY2012. But the company has narrowed its options for the larger design. The baseline CH-47's 25,400kg (56,000lb) airframe ( current newest model of H-47 ) would increase to 31,700kg, and the fuselage [ interior width ] would widen by 0.3m (1ft) to accommodate an up-armoured Humvee, says Jack Dougherty, director of CH-47 programmes. ( Or newer M114-size ground vehicle. No need for digression re Humvees. -- Elmo ) ...

US Army launches next-generation heavylift helicopter engine programme (http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/07/28/226061/us-army-launches-next-generation-heavylift-helicopter-engine.html)

[Modern Elmo]

Inter-Service Rivalry Surrounds Joint Heavy Lift Aircraft Program

3 2,009

By Stew Magnuson

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2009/March/PublishingImages/skepticism.jpg ( tiltrotor artwork)

... The latest source of contention is a potential multibillion-dollar program to build a new large cargo helicopter for the military services, known as the joint heavy lift aircraft. ( As I intuit things, a tiltrotor instead of a pure helo seems to be the leading candiate. --E. )

So far the program is “joint” in name only because the military service that is responsible for air transportation is not on board with the idea. An initial capabilities document has been signed by all the services except the Air Force.

“We are in a wrestling match a little bit with our Air Force partners, but we’re working through that,” said Col. Joseph Jellison, director of the Army’s concepts requirements directorate....

...

A change in attitude is coming from the top down, he added. Without naming him, Tenney implied that this new attitude comes from Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, who previously served as the commander of U.S. Transportation Command.

...

At the lower ranks, “there are cultural issues that are standing in the way and we’re working through those pieces,” Tenney said.

The cultural difference may be in how the services perceive the aircraft. The Marines and Army look at it as a “maneuver” vehicle — a way to hop their troops and equipment around a battlezone.

“That’s different than the traditional airlift community [who] see their role as a point-to-point delivery system where those points are very well defined and at well controlled locations,” Tenney said.

...

The two services had a rift over which would control the joint cargo aircraft program — another transport vehicle that was designed to carry troops and equipment shorter distances within a theater. Now designated the C-27J Spartan, the program overcame Air Force opposition to the Army flying a new fixed-wing aircraft.

“The Army wants to intrude on the Air Force’s turf, and the Air Force is holding the line,” said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the Teal Group.
( Elmo would like to compete with the Teal Group, which seems to consist of Mr. Alfalfa and one or to other guys who opinionate re other peepuls' DoD and NASA projects. The Teal Group doesn't have any tangible projects or do actual research and analysis, far as I can tell. Just commentary. I'm not sure about how Teal Group makes its money. Writing "white papers" for lobbyists, maybe? )

“The history of joint procurement projects is largely unblemished by success especially when the two services are likely to fight a turf war at any time,” he added.

...

Meanwhile, about $40 million has been spent on basic research for 11 contracts during the past two years, Tenney said. None from the Air Force, naturally, but the Army, Navy, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and NASA have all chipped in, he said.

..

Early artists’ concepts of the program that came from contractors showed the JHL as a larger than normal helicopter. Tenney showed drawings that looked more akin to a C-130, but with tilt-rotary wings.

...

Mark Nixon, director of the vehicle technology directorate at the Army Research Laboratory, said basic wind tunnel research on longer rotary-wing diameters have shown early success.

However, helicopter manufacturers like to develop new aircraft based on familiar designs.

“And with JHL, we’re really out of our comfort zone and our box,” he said.

Tunney said the sea basing concept will require the aircraft to be as small as possible while still being able to fulfill the heavy lift job. The larger the airplane, the harder it is to land on a ship.

Other proposed requirements include a combat radius of 250 nautical miles, speeds of 300 knots and the ability to reach an altitude of at least 14,000 feet.

“Cruise efficiency is a big deal.” This is a 300-knot airplane. When you’re flying that fast drag is important, he said.

...

An additional crucial need for the Army is the capability to transport its Future Combat Systems vehicles, which are now approaching the 28-ton mark. ( The Stryker set of ground vehics. seems to becoming the de facto FCS set. -- E. ) The FCS program initially wanted their vehicles to be around 20 tons and transportable by C-130 aircraft. But that goal fell by the wayside as additional armor was required to protect crews. And as the weight of the equipment grew, the options for transporting FCS vehicles around battlefields shrunk.

The C-130, for example, was supposed to carry one non-line-of-sight canon. With that vehicle currently at about 27 tons, it must now be lifted on the larger C-17, which requires longer landing strips.

...

The Army’s current rotary-wing heavy lift vehicle, the CH-47F Chinook, carries about eight tons externally about 50 nautical miles. The Marines’ CH-53E Super Stallion can lift a 6.5-ton payload about the same distance. The CH-53K Heavy Lift Replacement, which is still under development, should transport about 13.5 tons, but at double the distance.

But realities on the battlefield seem to be outstripping these requirements, as a report on Globalsecurity.org pointed out. Ground vehicles that transport troops are growing heavier, not lighter. Up-armored humvees are commonplace, and are being replaced by mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles that, when empty, can weigh anywhere from seven to 16 tons. A Cougar-H MRAP can weigh up to 18 tons.

...

“We have analyzed that until most of us involved in this are sick of analyzing it,” Tenney said. “It is time to move forward,” he added.

...

Rotorcraft research and development is extremely weak, he said. Most of it goes into upgrades for current systems or aircraft derived from previous models — not advanced concepts.

...

[Modern Elmo]

"Unsafe" gun runners supplying "Our Boys"

Posted by Richard Wednesday, 15 July 2009


Defence secretary Bob Ainsworth, it seems, has been rather less than frank about the availability of helicopter support for "Our Boys" in Afghanistan – but in a rather unusual way. There was one more helicopter available to deliver supplies than he was admitting.

The downside of this intriguing piece of news, however, might just explain his reticence. The additional machine was leased via Nato, operated by a Moldovan charter company, Pecotox Air, which has been banned from EU airspace for safety reasons and which has been implicated in arms trafficking.

These embarrassing details would not have emerged but for the unfortunate incident yesterday when it was reported the helicopter, a giant Mi-26T, registration ER-MCV (pictured above), was shot down by the Taleban a mile from the British military base in Sangin.

Misleadingly, the AP report (link above) cited the Moldovan operator claiming that the aircraft had been "ferrying humanitarian aid" when the crash took place, a detail quickly corrected by Reuters which had Western forces confirming that the helicopter had been "bringing supplies to a British base at Sangin." According to the Los Angeles Times, it was contracted specifically to supply British forces. ...

http://defenceoftherealm.*************/2009/07/unsafe-gun-runners-supplying-our-boys.html

[Razor61]

Meanwhile, this was in the press yesterday:-

By Bill Burchell

LONDON--The U.K. MoD is to go-ahead with a major life extension program for
the RAF's Puma HC1 helicopter fleet that will equip the aircraft with new
engines and avionics. The decision to approve the GBP300 million-plus
program was taken after the MoD decided it was "not feasible to advance the
purchase of the [replacement] Future Medium Helicopter" at this time.
Deliveries of the new aircraft to replace the upgraded Puma HC2s are
expected to commence from 2022 and replace Royal Navy Westland Sea Kings by
2017. Contrary to some expectation, the MoD opted not to progress a Sea King
life extension, but said it was continuing to assess how best to continue to
deliver the capability currently provided by the Sea King Mk4.
The MoD aims to invest around GBP6 billion in helicopters over the next 10
years, according to U.K. Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth, including GBP3.5
billion on 120 new aircraft plus upgrades to another 200.
Following national conjecture over the number of helicopters supporting the
U.K.'s military operations in Afghanistan, around GBP130 million has been
secured to upgrade the engines on 25 RAF Chinook HC2/2As. To date, 15
already have been modified with the rest due for completion between 2012 and
2014.
Engine upgrades also are underway on 22 British Army Lynx AH9 helicopters,
while six ex-Danish Air Force Agusta Westland AW101 Merlin helicopters are
being introduced to boost the RAF's fleet of the type by 25%, thereby
enabling the type's deployment to Afghanistan later this year.