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Aviation History
1981
1981 - 3822.PDF
Mockup of the UH-60's external stores support system take in more fuel; the Seahawk also has a rotor brake, Plessey Dynamics- powered main-rotor folding and power-assisted tail-boom folding. The wheel base is reduced, bringing the twin-wheel tail gear forward of the tail pylon fold. The corrosion-proofed engines produce about 10 per cent more power than those of the TJH-60. The cockpit and dynamics of the SH- 60 are essentially the same as those of the UH-60. To help recovery to a small, pitch ing platform, the digital/analogue Automatic Flight Control System has been expanded and the SH-60 has the recovery, assist, secure and traverse (Bast) haul down system. This allows the Seahawk to operate from a deck rolling up to 28°, pitching 5°, with a 15ft heave. The Rast is simple to use: the helicopter drops a probe into a deck-mounted "bear-trap" which then winches the aircraft down on to the sled-mounted trap. After folding, the aircraft is traversed along rails into the ship's hangar. The Seahawk programme will pro duce the first seven production air craft in 1983. The first will go to IBM for mission equipment fit in April 1983, and is scheduled for delivery to the US Navy in October that year. In 1984 production will run to 35 SH-60s, with 54 in 1985, 60 in 1986, and the remainder in 1987. Black Hawk jammer EH-60A Quick Fix Black Hawk The Quick Fix Black Hawk is a battlefield Elint/ECM helicopter. The main ex ternal differences from the UH-60 are a large, retractable ventral whip aerial and four dipole aerials on the sides of the tail boom. Quick Fix Black Hawks will patrol behind the front line using 1,8001b of mission avionics to intercept, monitor, and jam enemy radio transmissions. Ground correlation of Quick Fix data will yield information on the enemy's order of battle and its intentions. The US Army has a requirement for 77 EH-60As in addition to the 1,107 UH-60s. EH-60B Sotas Black Hawk The EH- 60B is the vehicle for the US Army's stand-off target acquisition system (Sotas). To accommodate the under- fuselage 360° scanning radar, the EH- 60B has retracting main gear. The scanner is positioned fore-and-aft for take-off and landing and is lowered for rotation after the gear is raised. The mission avionics being built by Motorola have run into technical prob lems, although there are no airframe hitches. This pushed the Sotas unit price up to unacceptable levels and a request for further R&D funds from the 1982 budget was denied. The US Army is to issue new RFPs on mission avionics, with a resulting delay in the programme. The Service needs 61 Sotas platforms, again in addition to the 1,107 basic UH-60s. HH-60D Night Hawk Optimised for the United States Air Force combat rescue mission, the Night Hawk will eventually replace the Service's HH-53 Super Jolly Green Giants in that role. The USAF is changing its combat rescue philosophy. In Vietnam, the area around a downed crewman was saturated with ordnance, usually dropped by Douglas A-l "Sandy" Sky- raiders. Pickups were usually made in daylight. Sikorsky has a $19 million USAF contract to develop the Night Hawk, which will have terrain-following radar, forward-looking infrared, and an air-to-air refuelling probe in a redesigned nose. A modified cabin floor structure will take the load of additional fuel cells, giving the HH-60 twice the range of the UH-60. The rescue hoist will be that of the SH-60B Seahawk. A typical mission profile will be a hi-lo-lo-hi night penetration over a 250 n.m. radius, air refuelling on the out bound high leg to give contingency reserves for searching in the target area if needed. To cope with enemy defences, the HH-60D will carry three (port, starboard, and ramp) pintle-mounted 7-62mm Miniguns. For heavier defences, the HH-60D may be fitted with Hellfires on stub wing stations, and some thought is being given to air-to-air capability, probably in the form of four Stingers or similar missiles. An interim version, the UH-60E Black Hawk, has been ordered by the USAF to replace its Pave Low III Flir-equipped HH-53s which have been re-allocated to the Rapid Deployment Force. The 11 UH-60Es on order (five aircraft from the 1981 budget, six from 1982, reduced from the original 12) will also get the USAF used to the UH-60, with a chance to "read-across" the UH-60E experience into the HH- 60D development programme. An HH-60D avionics integration RFP is expected to be issued on Janu ary 15. Competitors for integration will be Sikorsky/Collins/Norden, IBM, E-Systems, and possibly Sperry and Martin Marietta. The avionics con tract will be issued next April, with an airframe development contract following in June. CV Seahawk SH-60C "CV-Helo" The CV-Helo (car rier-based ASW/SAB helicopter) will replace US Navy carrier-borne SH-3 Sea Kings from the mid-1980s. The 195 SH-60Cs will be a simplified version of the SH-60B. The 25 sono- buoys of the B model will be replaced by a dunking sonar, probably an off- the-shelf Bendix AQF-13. The SH-60C mission profile has not yet been fixed in detail and Sikorsky is presenting four options to the US Navy. Common to all will be the basic performance specification of take-off in zero wind at 90°F with enough fuel for 4-5hr. The C model will operate in the ASW role, dunking its sonar in the inner-to-middle zones and leaving the long-range screening to SH-60B Lamps from the ASW destroyer/ frigate force and the carriers' S-3A Viking fixed-wing ASW element. The SH-60B Rast system will be retained, as will the main-rotor and tail folding: space is at a premium on even the largest carriers. Just as important, the SH-60C will be able to operate from frigates and destroyers. In return, the SH-60B can visit the carriers for maintenance. A common engine/airframe/dynamics logistic set up is of increasing importance with the US Navy's new commitments in the Indian Ocean. The US Naval Air Development Centre released $100,000 in October for the SH-60C, and a mockup is scheduled for presentation in late May or early June next year. Pro posals will be made in July 1982 with award of a development contract next October. Production will be added on to the SH-60B line with 16 aircraft in 1987 and 64, 64, and 51 in the follow ing three years. 53 1706 FLIGHT International, 5 December 1981
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