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Aviation History
1983
1983 - 0638.PDF
DEFENCE Seahawk delivered ahead of schedule STRATFORD Sikorsky handed over the first of 204 SH-60B Seahawk heli copters to the US Navy on March 24, reports Graham Warwick. The aircraft was flown to IBM's Owego, New York, facility for installation of the mission avionics which will transform the Seahawk into the Navy's Light Airborne Multipurpose Sys tem (Lamps) III. IBM will deliver the completed SH-60B Seahawk Lamps III to Navy training squadron HSL-41, San Diego, in October. Seahawk will enter service on FFG-7 Perry-class frigates from July 1984. The helicop ter's primary mission is to locate and classify submarine targets out to 100 n.m. under control of the parent ship, then to descend below the horizon to attack and destroy the target autonomously. The secondary mission is to pro vide over-the-horizon target ing data to extend the range of ship-launched Harpoon mis siles, and to give early warn ing of missile attack through electronic sur-veillance. Addi tional duties include medical evacuation, search and rescue, and vertical replenishment. Seahawk will also equip CG-47 Ticonderoga-class cruisers and DDG-963 Spruance-class destroyers. Hand-over of the first production Seahawk is the latest milestone in the H-60 programme, which has grown from 1,107 helicopters for the US Army to 1,817 for three US Services, plus others for export. The Army itself wants a further 77 UH-60A Black Hawks, reconfigured as EH- 60A Quick Fix communi cations jammers. The Navy plans an additional 175 Seahawks, SH-60Fs equipped with dipping sonar for carrier- based anti-submarine duties. The Air Force has purchased 11 unmodified UH-60A "Slicks", two of which will be retained by Sikorsky for conversion into prototype HH-60D Nighthawk combat- rescue helicopters, fore runners of a 243-aircraft production run. Some 380 UH-60s have been delivered to the US Army, and production continues at ten a month. Sikorsky is ahead of schedule, and can offer early delivery to overseas customers. US Army Black Hawks are based in the USA, Europe, and from the end of this year, in South Korea. Aircraft have accumu lated some 150,000hr and have demonstrated reliability and maintainability exceeding requirements. System mean time between failures is currently 5hr (4hr specified) and maintenance manhours per flight hour are running at 2-3hr (3-8hr specified). Black Hawks are currently cleared to a 20,2501b maximum take-off weight. Additional qualification will raise this to 22,5001b without modification. Higher weights, up to 24,5001b, will be pos sible with uprated engines and transmission. The Navy- led tri-Service improved durability gearbox devel opment programme will provide the latter. For the former, Sikorsky will qualify the uprated -701 version of the General Electric T700 turboshaft, to be available on export UH-60s from 1984. The higher all-up weight is required to make full use of the Black Hawk external stores support system (ESSS). Developed for the Army, ESSS is designed to carry two 450 US gal fuel tanks and two 230 US gal tanks, giving the UH-60 an endurance of ll-14hr. This will enable Army machines to self-deploy from the USA to Europe via the southern route (the northern route is often closed because of poor weather). ESSS-equipped Black Hawks will be able to complete the longest leg of this trip, the 1,150 n.m. from St Julius to the Azores. Hardpoints for the remov able ESSS will be fitted to all UH-60s delivered from August this year, while the supports themselves will enter production in 1984. At the direction of Congress, Siko rsky has demonstrated the feasibility of firing Rockwell Hellfire laser-guided anti tank missiles from the ESSS, and is to proceed with qual ification. The first production SH- 60B Seahawk was actually delivered to the US Navy on February 28, two months early and 24 months after production go-ahead. The helicopter had logged 26hr before the official handover one month ahead of schedule. Sikorsky is under contract to deliver 18 SH-60Bs to IBM by mid-1984. Award of a second production contract for 27 Seahawks is imminent. The Navy had planned to buy its 204 SH-60Bs over four years, with production reach ing five a month. The Reagan administration's emphasis on overall defence, however, resulted in funds being diverted to other Navy pro grammes. As a result Lamps III has been stretched to 11 years, with deliveries running at between 18 and 21 Sea hawks a year. This more closely matches the avail ability of ships, but inflation acting on the later years has dramatically increased pro gramme costs. Officials hope that deliveries can be speeded up to reduce costs. Potential Seahawk custom ers include Spain, which has a letter of offer covering Lamps III vehicles to equip its FFG-7 frigates. The Air Force's ninth UH- 60A will be delivered to Eglin AFB, Florida, this month. The Black Hawks are taken directly from the Army pro duction line, receiving a USAF European camouflage scheme before delivery. The two HH-60D development airframes, Tl and T2, will be available by May. Tl will be instrumented for structural test and will be flown for nine months by Sikorsky before being handed over for instal lation of the mission avionics, joining T2, which will be delivered directly to IBM. The programme calls for development of the all- weather combat-rescue/ covert-insertion Nighthawk to be completed by March 1986, and for deliveries of 243 production aircraft to begin in May of that year. The first HH-60D will enter production alongside the 660th UH-60. Sikorsky is under contract for 636 Black Hawks, 294 of them covered by a $950 million three-year contract, representing a saving of more than $80 million, the company estimates. A second multiyear contract, covering three lots of 96 UH-60s, is being discussed, as are similar agreements for the Navy's SH-60B and the Air Force's HH-60D, which will share the Black Hawk production line. FLIGHT International, 9 April 1983
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