Bell Helicopter and U.S. Army Sign Cooperative

Agreement to Develop Drive System Technologies

Press Contact
Bill Schroeder
(817) 280-7651 (office) or (817) 600-4209 (mobile)
wschroeder@bellhelicopter.textron.com

FORT WORTH, TEXAS (November 8, 2010) - Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company (NYSE: TXT) and the U.S. Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate have signed a $30 million Technology Investment Agreement to develop state-of-the-art drive system technology under the Future Advanced Rotorcraft Drive System (FARDS) program.

The FARDS program is focused on critical performance and affordability enhancing drive system technologies for the U.S. Army's Current/Future Force fleet of rotorcraft, as well as commercial rotorcraft. The program is targeting a 55 percent improvement in drive system power-to-weight ratio, a 35 percent reduction in production, operating and support costs, 90 percent automatic detection of critical failures and an 18 decibel reduction in drive system-generated noise.

"FARDS is a great opportunity to develop key technologies to serve as the foundation of a rotorcraft drive system for the year 2015 and beyond," said Ryan Ehinger, Bell Helicopter program manager for FARDS. "Drive systems are a core technology at Bell Helicopter, and we are proud to focus on enhanced capabilities for those whose livelihoods depend on our products."

The agreement, worked through Bell's Xworx organization, brings together a diverse group of subcontractors with unique expertise in the fields of materials, processing, heat transfer, diagnostics and more, complementing Bell's design and manufacturing strengths.

The five year FARDS program will develop more than 18 new technologies resulting in full scale demonstrations of a main rotor gearbox and tail rotor driveshaft system.

"The goals are challenging, but it will be exciting to see how the results of this collaboration transition to the commercial and military product lines," Ehinger said. "We are looking forward to contributing to this important initiative."

Die Air Force habe durch einen «Beamtenfehler» beide Konkurrenten versehentlich mit Details über die Offerte des jeweils anderen versorgt, berichteten US-Medien am Samstag.

OP-2, the second prototype of the new Mi-38 helicopter built by Moscow Mil Helicopter Plant JSC and Kazan Helicopters JSC, the subsidiaries of the Russian Helicopters holding company, has achieved its first flight. The test program that was started is proceeding well according to Kazan Helicopters specialists: the helicopter has already completed 26 ground runups and 7 hover and low speed flights over the runway.
The design of the machine undergoing flight tests was modified pursuant to the results of tests on the first Mi-38 prototype - the OP-1. The hydraulic and fuel systems have been upgraded and some changes have been made to the main rotor blades. The helicopter control system now has spring feel mechanisms of type design. As a result the helicopter is in maximum compliance with the Russian airworthiness regulations AP-29, a counterpart of FAR-29. Its handling and stability have improved. It is equipped with Pratt & Whitney Canada PW 127/TS engines and the modern Tranzas IBKV-38 avionics suite with a glass cockpit. The helicopter can also be equipped with Russian TV7-117V engines. The Mi-38 OP-2 is scheduled to be handed over to Moscow Mil Helicopter Plant for the full flight test cycle.
Moscow Mil Helicopter Plant is planning to demonstrate the Mi-38 OP-2 helicopter in 2011. Mass production at Kazan Helicopters is scheduled for 2013. The third prototype of the Mi-38 is in assembly in Kazan.
The medium multi-role cargo and transport Mi-38 is designed for passenger transportation (including VIP flights), carrying loads in the cabin and on an external sling, search and rescue, offshore, and flying hospital operations. According to design specifications, the Mi-38 will have a high payload and top speed. The Mi-38 will have a spacious passenger cabin and highly efficient engines. The labour constant for service and maintenance may be reduced thanks to a built-in automated equipment and engine serviceability control system.
The Mi-38 is a new generation helicopter that can perform up to the highest safety and comfort standards for helicopters in its class.

03.12.2010

Dänemark interessiert an Seahawk

Die Regierung Dänemarks zieht den Kauf von MH-69 R Seahwak Hubschraubern in Betracht, um die veraltete Lynx-Flotte zu ersetzen.


Sikorsky MH-60 R

Wie die Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) am 30. November bekannt gab hätte Dänemark Interesse an etwa 12 Maschinen des genannten Typs geäußert. Der Wert der Bestellung wird auf etwa 2 Billionen US-Dollar beziffert. Die Hubschrauber sollen in erster Linie zur U-Boot-Überwachung und im Bedarfsfall zur Landesverteidigung genutzt werden.

http://www.rotorblatt.de/news/detail.php?c...;objectID=1847#

[...]Ich hoffe mal bei dem Wert der Bestellung handelt es sich um einen Tippfehler.

RAF Dropping to 6 Fast-Jet Units
Export Deals Could Further Cut Typhoon Force

LONDON - Britain may halve its fast-jet fleet by 2020 or so, according to the commanding officer of the Royal Air Force's No. 1 Group.


A British Royal Air Force Typhoon F2 flies in close formation with a RAF Tornado F3. (Courtesy of U.K. Ministry of Defence)

"We are heading for five Typhoon squadrons and one JSF [Joint Strike Fighter] squadron," said Air Vice-Marshal Greg Bagwell, who commands the RAF's air combat group. "It will be a six-squadron world; that's what's on the books."
Related Topics

That could mean 107 Typhoons, plus about 40 F-35C JSFs that support a large operational squadron of 20 to 25 crews, Bagwell said.

Typhoon numbers could be clipped even further if Britain and Oman seal a deal to send the Persian Gulf nation about a squadron's worth of aircraft. The planes could be diverted from an existing RAF order; the question is whether they will then later be replaced, he said.

In 1990, the RAF had 33 fast-jet squadrons; in 2003, 17. Today, the number stands at 12: seven Tornado, three Typhoon and two Harrier squadrons, plus the offensive firepower of a growing fleet of Reaper UAVs.

By April, Britain will be down to eight fast-jet squadrons, thanks to the retirement of the Harriers and the shelving of two Tornado units.

The Tornado force has already been eroded by a covert 2009 order from the previous Labour administration to cut the number of crews in each squadron. But that number is expected to return to its previous level next year as squadrons are eliminated and crews shift around.

Those cuts, and others, were ordered by an October decision to ax defense spending over the next four years as part of a wider government plan to reduce public borrowing levels. The cuts bit deep into RAF capabilities; other reductions hit battlefield surveillance, maritime reconnaissance, helicopter transport and other capabilities.

"Six squadrons is the low point for the U.K.'s fast jet fleet," one analyst said. "You can expect that to recover a little as the Ministry of Defence bolsters its force of Joint Strike Fighters beyond the current level mandated in the new strategic defense and security review."

Bagwell was less sanguine. He called the first JSF squadron a "start point" and said more may come, but for the moment, "I expect a single squadron in 2020 and that's it."

Other senior RAF officers have said they aim eventually to operate around 100 F-35Cs, which will split their time operating from land bases and from the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers being built for the Royal Navy.

Bagwell said the fast-jet cuts were challenging but manageable so long as the RAF is not tasked to do much more than its current deployments: Tornados to the NATO effort in Afghanistan, and Typhoons to quick reaction alert (QRA) forces in Britain and the Falkland Islands.

"Am I happy to be down at that number [eight squadrons] next April? No, it worries the hell out of me because it's a small combat air force," he said. "I can just about do Op Herrick [Afghanistan] and the QRAs. Can I do other things? Yes, but it is at risk.

"Actually, I am more worried about what other people think I can do tomorrow," he said. "The whole thing about procurement and posture is as much about long-term future deterrence and keeping the enemy on the back foot as it is about physically fighting. The deterrence and coercive effect of air power has somehow got lost in the noise."
Typhoon Questions

Bagwell said the RAF would likely ax its 55 Tranche 1 Typhoons by mid-decade because it would cost too much to bring them up to the required multirole standards offered by Tranche 2 and Tranche 3. That would mean the RAF Typhoon fleet would top out at 107 machines.

But the Typhoon fleet could shrink even further, Bagwell said.

The "great unknown in the plans is the awful lot of potential export customers," he said.

The proposed deal with Oman is in the final stages of negotiation; discussions are now underway about where those dozen or so aircraft might come from. The RAF's Typhoon force could fall further if the planes are diverted from the Air Force's order and are not replaced.

Difficulties in Britain's 72-plane sale to Saudi Arabia are creating more uncertainty. The first 24 are being diverted from the RAF's Tranche 2 order, and the service is to get more Tranche 3 aircraft instead. The other 48 are to be assembled in Saudi Arabia as part of an effort to build up local industry.

But industry sources said the plan has run into difficulties that raise questions about how Britain will fill the Saudi order.

Bagwell said options could include taking additional aircraft from the RAF production run and replacing them later.

"Should we get the buybacks out of Saudi Arabia and Oman as planned, we will be back to the number of Typhoons I need," he said. "At the moment, if I don't get the [Omani] buyback and this is under discussion ... it could take me down to 95 aircraft."

He said any changes to RAF deliveries would affect the service's ability to train crews.

A spokesman for BAE Systems, which is helping to build the aircraft, said he couldn't comment on Saudi issues.

Bagwell also revealed:

■ The 2011 planning round could change the timing of the upgrade of Typhoon jets to a full multirole aircraft. Dubbed the Future Capabilities Program 2, it will allow the jets to carry Storm Shadow, Brimstone and other weapons.

■ The decision to switch the planned purchase of short-takeoff, vertical-landing F-35Bs to the conventional carrier C version will give the Air Force a true deep-penetration capability.

■ The Sentinel R1 surveillance capability, to be axed by the government after the Afghanistan war, could be replaced through programs like the Scavenger UAV and new active electronically scanned array radars on Typhoon and JSF.

■ The 2011 planning round may speed up creation of the final two Typhoon squadrons, now slated for 2015, by as much as a year.

Bagwell told reporters that the date on which the RAF hits six squadrons would depend in part on Ministry of Defence decisions about the drawdown of the Tornado strike aircraft as Typhoons arrive.

"We still need to hold on to a portion of the Tornado force, and it will be a very important decision for the next defense review [expected in 2015] as to how the crossover is achieved between Typhoon and Tornado," he said. "My gut instinct is that we will need at least two or three Tornado squadrons at the 2017 point, keeping the squadron numbers at the six to eight figure."

The Tornado fleet is currently scheduled to retire in 2021. The government recently announced a reduction in the number of Tornados required to sustain ongoing operations, known as force elements, from 40 to 18 by 2015.

Elizabeth Quintana, head of air power and technology at the Royal United Services Institute, said she didn't think air power suffered worse in the cuts than many other sectors.

"The benefit is that unlike the Army [spared the worst of the cuts due to the war in Afghanistan], the Air Force now knows what its configuration is going to look like in the 2017-2020 timeframe," she said. "Where aircraft numbers are going in the future and what impact unmanned combat air vehicles might have is too early to say. F-35 and Typhoon give you more capable platforms but with fewer numbers."

She noted that synthetic training will reduce the number of aircraft kept off the front lines.

Quelle: http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=521...c=AIR&s=TOP

Russia to start Mi-38 production in 2013 after PW127 engine supply resolved
By

Russian Helicopters says it will begin production of the Mi-38 utility transport helicopter in 2013, after resolving engine supply issues with Pratt & Whitney Canada.

"The company plans to equip the helicopters with both Russian and Canadian engines. We see it as an additional advantage for our buyers. Partners in Russia and the CIS states traditionally opt for Russian-made engines, while partners worldwide may prefer Canadian," the firm says.

The Mi-38 programme has been beset by delays almost from its inception, when it was initially started in collaboration with Eurocopter.

Russian Helicopters' Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant said last year that production of the new-generation helicopter would begin no earlier than in 2014, after P&WC, initially chosen as the preferred engine supplier with the PW127/TS turboshaft, prevaricated over involvement in the project.

Russian Helicopters claimed that P&WC's reluctance to supply its engines was due to US political pressure following an embargo on sales of dual-purpose equipment to Russia.

P&WC had not replied to requests for comment on the situation as of 6 December. In May 2009, the company said it was "still in discussions with the client [Russian Helicopters] in a bid to resolve the issue."

OP-2, the second Mi-38 prototype, has made its first test flight after completing 26 ground runs and seven hover and low-speed flights over the runway.

The second prototype, powered by the PW127/TS, was modified following tests on the first Mi-38, with upgraded hydraulic and fuel systems, a spring-feel mechanism in the control system and some changes to the main rotor blades. The machine is now fully compliant with Russian AP-29 airworthiness regulations, equivalent to FAR-29. The aircraft is also fitted with a Russian-made Tranzas IBKV-38 avionics suite with a glass cockpit.

Russian Helicopters' Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant plans to demonstrate the OP-2 in 2011. A third prototype Mi-38 is under construction at the company's Kazan Helicopters Plant in the Russian republic of Tatarstan.

The twin-engine Mi-38 can carry up to 30 passengers, or a 5t payload, and can be used for civilian and military purposes.

Das BWB hat den 600. und damit letzten KEPD Taurus für die Luftwaffe übernommen.

Kampfhubschrauber Tiger 2012 nach Afghanistan

Berlin - Rund drei Jahre nach Frankreich soll Deutschland 2012 den Kampfhubschrauber Tiger in den Afghanistaneinsatz schicken. Die militärischen Spitzen planten, im zweiten Quartal 2012 vier Tiger an den Hindukusch zu verlegen, schreibt die Zeitung «Die Welt». Sie sollten dort «eine lange beklagte Ausrüstungslücke» schließen. Deutschland hatte bei der EADS-Tochter Eurocopter eine andere, mehr auf die Panzerbekämpfung zugeschnittene Version des Hubschraubers bestellt als die Franzosen.

So, 19. Dez. 2010, 15:44 © Rhein-Zeitung & dpa-infocom

Unabhängig ob Absicht, richtig oder falsch. Aber das kollidiert schon auffällig mit Schwesterwelles Statement vor ein paar Tagen. Also jetzt mal schlicht bezüglich gemeinsamer Öffentlichkeitsarbeit der 2 Ministerien.

India, Russia Sign Contract to Design and Develop FGFA


(Source: India Press Information Bureau; issued Dec. 21, 2010)


The new Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft to be jointly developed by Sukhoi and Hindustan Aeronautics for the Indian air force will be derived from the Sukhoi T-50. (Sukhoi photo)
A contract for Preliminary Design of the Indo-Russian Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft was signed between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Rosoboronexport and Sukhoi here today.

...

F-35B Put On Probation; New Bomber To Go Forward


Jan 7, 2011

By Bill Sweetman william_sweetman@aviationweek.com
WASHINGTON

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has put the U.S. Marine Corps’ troubled F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical landing (Stovl) Joint Strike Fighter on “probation,” while endorsing the U.S. Air Force’s long-coveted new bomber program.

The F-35A and F-35C models emerged unscathed from Gates’ review. However, the F-35B “is experiencing significant testing problems,” Gates said at the Pentagon Jan. 6.

Implying that problems are more serious than previously reported, he adds that “these issues may lead to a redesign of the aircraft’s structure and propulsion — changes that could add yet more weight and more cost to an aircraft that has little capacity to absorb more of either.”

The JSF test program will be restructured so that testing of the F-35A and F-35C runs ahead of the B model, rather than the other way around. If the B model cannot be “fixed or gotten back on track” in two years, “I believe it should be canceled,” Gates says.

Gates’ comments came during a press conference announcing a series of budget efficiencies designed to cut or redirect more than $150 billion from current Defense Department spending over the next five years.

Delays to F-35B testing so far — fewer than a dozen vertical landings have been logged since March 2010 — have been publicly attributed to a problem with the auxiliary engine inlet door, and individually minor issues with components such as cooling fans.

More details of changes to the JSF program also emerged, including another delay in the completion of systems development and demonstration (SDD) and a cut-down production ramp. SDD is now delayed to early 2016, versus mid-2015 as planned in the restructuring of the program early last year. SDD finishes with the conclusion of development testing and precedes initial operational testing and evaluation, so the move likely will push initial operational capability (IOC) into 2017. (The individual services are assessing their IOC dates.) This will cost an additional $4.6 billion to the program.

The Fiscal 2012 JSF buy — low-rate initial production (LRIP) Lot V — will be held at 32 aircraft, both to reduce concurrency and because “the final assembly process at Fort Worth is still maturing,” Gates says. Deliveries at this point are late by multiple months.

In Fiscal 2013 and later, deliveries will ramp up by a factor of roughly 1.5 per year, for a total of 325 aircraft through LRIP IX (on contract in 2016 and delivered by 2018) versus 449 in the previous plan.

The LRIP IV contract, just signed, will be changed to eliminate all but three Stovl aircraft. The U.S. will buy only six Stovl aircraft in each of the next two LRIP Lots (V and VI), regarded as the minimum needed to sustain the supplier base and unique skills.

Gates indicated in response to questions that a last-ditch appeal by Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos and his predecessor may have saved the B-model from outright cancellation. Gates said the commandants made a convincing argument for more time to fix the program.

The Navy also plans to acquire more Super Hornets and extend the structural life of 150 “classic” Hornets as a hedge against late JSF deliveries. The service will buy 41 more F/A-18s in Fiscal 2012-14.

Meanwhile, in a major breakthrough for advocates of long-distance airpower, Gates strongly endorsed a program for “a new long-range, nuclear-capable penetrating bomber.” The Air Force has been struggling to get this program reinstated since Gates deferred development of the so-called “2018 bomber” in 2009, against the opposition of some senior Pentagon leaders who argued that smaller unmanned aircraft, plus cruise and ballistic missiles, could adequately supplement existing bombers in the foreseeable future.

Gates also announced decisions on a number of controversial aspects of the new aircraft. It will be nuclear-capable — some had argued for this, on the grounds that radiation-hardening is relatively inexpensive at the design stage and costly to retrofit, while others had opposed it because it brings the bomber within the scope of arms-control discussions. Gates also says that it would be “optionally” piloted rather than unmanned, and that it would make use of existing technologies to speed development.

Wozu eigentlich der 2018 Bomber, kann mir das wer erklären? Vorteile gegenüber der B-2? Billiger, schneller, was auch immer?