PAUL LEWIS / NASHVILLE

Sikorsky UH-60X Black Hawk growth version could be ditched in favour of larger generic helicopter

The US Army is re-evaluating its Future Utility Rotorcraft (FUR) plans, which are currently based on the proposed growth SikorskyUH-60X Black Hawk, possibly in favour of a new larger type. Sikorsky, meanwhile, is rebidding for the supply of multifunction displays (MFD) for the nearer-term UH-60M upgrade as the result of problems with the present system.

Reference to the UH-60X has been dropped by the US Army in favour of a more generic FUR as planners struggle to anticipate the medium-lift needs of the future Objective Force. "The FUR right now is nowhere and I'm concerned about it. The FUR could be another aircraft, it could be a [Sikorsky] S-92 or [EH Industries] EH101 or who knows what," says Col William Lake, US Army utility helicopter project manager, speaking at the Army Aviation Association of America convention in Nashville, Tennessee, last week.

Last year the Defense Acquisition Board approved an operational requirement document (ORD) specifying the ability to lift a 4,300kg (9,500lb) external load over 135km (75nm) at 4,000ft (1,220m) and 35°C (95°F). The army now wants to rethink plans for a fleet of 255 FURs. The UH-60X is sized to meet the ORD, using the new 2,235kW (3,000shp) Common Engine Programme (CEP) powerplant, improved rotor dynamics and enlarged fuselage.

Key to UH-60X performance is the CEP, which the US Army had hoped to start this year with a request for proposals. Initial funding now looks set to slip at least a year. "We don't know what the Objective Force's equipment will look like, so we don't know how much weight we need to carry, whether CEP is the right engine or the UH-60 is the right aircraft," says Lake.

Meanwhile, 1,217 UH-60A/Ls will be upgraded to UH-60Ms from 2004. The UH-60M will receive a new digital cockpit with four 150 x 200mm (6 x 8in) displays. Litton, now Northrop Grumman, was selected to supply the UH-60M glass cockpit, having supplied a similar one for the UH-60Q and HH-60L, as well as the US Navy's MH-60R/S.

Sikorsky, however, has reopened the displays competition. Rockwell Collins has proposed elements of its Common Avionics Architecture System, selected for the US Special Forces MH-60M upgrade, while EFW, Honeywell and Northrop Grumman are also expected to bid.

Source: Flight International