Richard Scott/DEVONPORT NAVAL BASE, AUCKLAND
In June, the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) will begin handing back its interim Kaman SH-2F Seasprite helicopters as part of the transition to the new SH-2G(NZ) Super Seasprite, the definitive replacement for the retired Westland Wasp HAS1.
It will have been a short-lived but productive career for the SH-2F that involved bridging the gap between the Wasp's demise and the Super Seasprite's introduction to service next year. Originally intended to provide the Naval Support Flight (administered and supported by 3 Squadron Royal New Zealand Air Force at Whenuapai) with lead-in familiarisation and continuation training, the SH-2F in fact ended up being deployed operationally last year in the Persian Gulf and off East Timor.
And it has also been productive as a catalyst for revitalising small ship aviation specialisations in the RNZN. Initially founded on a contingent of largely ex-UK Royal Navy aviators, the Naval Support Flight training pipeline is starting to produce home-grown pilots and observers who will fly the SH-2G.
The RNZN phased out the venerable Wasp in April 1998, after 32 years of operating it successfully from frigates. Obsolete and no longer economic to support, the Wasp's retirement was considered well overdue.
Efforts to procure a successor began in 1988 when a project definition study was conducted under the auspices of Project Amokura. An acquisition programme was eventually born - the Replacement Naval Helicopter (RNH) - but it was not until March 1997, following evaluation of rival bids from Kaman and GKN Westland (offering the Super Lynx), that the Super Seasprite was chosen to meet the RNH requirement.
Based around the Litton ASN-150/1553B tactical data system (which includes its own non-synchronous datalink), the SH-2G(NZ) mission sensor fit will feature a Telephonics APS-143(V)3 radar, FLIR Systems AAQ-22 forward-looking infrared and Litton Amecon LR-100 electronic support measures (ESM). The aircraft will be equipped to carry Raytheon AGM-65D Maverick air-to-surface missiles in the anti-ship role, as well as anti-submarine ordnance in the shape of Mk11 depth charges and Mk 46 torpedoes.
A $185 million contract for four aircraft configured to SH-2G(NZ) standard was signed in June 1997. A fifth machine was ordered in July last year and is due for delivery in 2003. But it was recognised that a stopgap was needed between the Wasp's departure and theSH-2G(NZ)'s arrival.
"We would have found it very difficult to have gone without aviation for a couple of years and then suddenly take the Super Seasprite,'' says Lt Cdr John Toon, latterly Naval Flight Commander. "It would have been difficult to reintegrate a ship's flight from scratch."
So, as part of the SH-2G purchase agreement, Kaman undertook to supply the RNZN with four SH-2F Seasprites as an interim phase of the RNH project. These arrived by sea in late 1997, along with a fifth airframe to be used as a source of spares.
Only three SH-2F aircraft were returned to flying condition after undergoing a comprehensive restoration and inspection procedure (RIP). Limited manpower, parts availability and budget considerations militated against the fourth airframe's RIP, and it was instead stripped for spares common to the SH-2F and SH-2G - the two sharing about 75% commonality.
The first operational SH-2F, NZ3441, flew in February 1998. It was followed that June by NZ3442, and finally NZ3443 in September. First of class flight trials (contracted to Aerospace Technical Services) were conducted aboard the Anzac-class frigate HMNZS Te Kaha in October that year, with the Leander- class frigate HMNZS Canterbury following in May 1999, each involving over 300 landings to establish ship/helicopter operating limits.
Effective stopgap
According to Toon, the Seasprite has proved an effective stopgap. "The raison d'etre for these interim helicopters is to maintain skills and exposure of the aircraft at sea and also to extend operations to include a more-capable twin-engine aircraft with radar. This means the whole chain of command from the commanding officer right down can maintain an understanding of small ship helicopter operations."
In terms of its ancestry, the SH-2F is very much a Wasp contemporary. But even the stopgap Seasprites offer a step change in capability, requiring new doctrine and standard operating procedures. "Lynx tactics are being used as our baseline," says Lt Keith Gilchrist, a former RN GKN Westland Sea King observer and now the RNZN's senior observer. "The SH-2F is not too different to the Lynx HAS3 and deployments have proved that the same basic tactics work for the RNZN." Indeed, the SH-2F has provided a springboard for introducing observers - airborne warfare officers by any other name - into the RNZN. Whereas the Wasp was a pilot-only helicopter, the SH-2G will rely on a back-seat observer for mission management and tactical co-ordination.
Starting from zero, the RNZN initially recruited two ex-RN observers to provide the embryonic Observer Branch with a near-term capability for the SH-2F. Three home-grown observers have now graduated through an indigenous training pipeline, and an RN instructor observer is currently serving on an exchange posting.
The SH-2F's short life and limited capability have meant that tactical development could only proceed so far until the SH-2G arrives. For instance, while the LN-66 surveillance radar aboard the SH-2F remains operable, the aircraft's original ALR-66 ESM was not reactivated under the RIP and has been removed. Furthermore, the helicopter has not been weapons qualified. "Tactical development is pretty much on hold now," says Lt Gilchrist. "We'll wait for the SH-2G to arrive to see just how much more we can do with the newer radar, ESM, FLIR and whatever datalink we get."
Operating experience with the SH-2F has informed the decision to have a trained helicopter aircrewman aboard each of the RNZN's helicopter-capable ships. "We decided that there were certain benefits in having the observer sit up front in high workload missions," says Lt Cdr Jim Gilmour, who took over as Naval Flight Commander in late April. "For instance, we identified that it is not ideal to have just one guy up front if you're doing a Doppler hover at night in poor weather."
The stopgap Seasprites' value was put to the test last year when aircraft found themselves operating above the Timor Sea and Persian Gulf to support two quite separate UN operations. Last September, Te Kaha (with NZ3441 embarked) was deployed off East Timor as part of Operation Stabilise, to be relieved later that month by Canterbury (with NZ3443 aboard). Canterbury remained off Timor until December, while Te Kaha sailed for a previously programmed period as part of the Multinational Interception Force in the Gulf.
No choice
"When the reactive requirement for East Timor came about, we were left with no choice because that exposure at sea, in the ships, was really what we wanted," says Toon.
"It came at a cost to training, but bearing in mind what we wanted to achieve with theSH-2F in the first place, this was a great opportunity for us to prove the concept in an operational environment. There was no question that we had to support it."
Both ships' flights achieved outstanding availability and found employment in the surface search, utility and liaison roles during their respective deployments, amassing 200h flying time between them. Canterbury's flight also managed to undertake a 100h phase servicing mid-deployment, although this meant disembarking the aircraft at Darwin.
"We found then that not having a helicopter on board is like having one of your legs cut off," says Cmdr Warren Cummins, commanding officer of HMNZS Canterbury.
"With the SH-2F, and soon the SH-2G, the helicopter is now once again a very integral part of the frigate," he says. "It gives the ship an eye in the sky which can stay up for three hours and report on events up to 100nm [185km] ahead. As a commander I couldn't have wished for a better package on the back of my ship. And even though we didn't have the weapon packages with the F model, we can see the warfighting potential that will be realised with the SH-2G."
The RNZN's Seasprites are now in their twilight months, with all three to be given up for the new SH-2G over the next year. Delivery dates for the latter have slipped by several months: the Naval Support Flight expects the delivery of the first two SH-2G(NZ)s late next March, with two more following soon after. The fifth will follow about 18 months later.
The SH-2F's Kiwi experience will soon be over, but its RNZN legacy will live on.
Source: Flight International