By Geoff Fein
Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Sikorsky [UTX] are expecting to begin their first contractor flight tests of the Automatic Radar Periscope Detection and Discrimination system being developed for the Navy’s MH-60R.
“We just finished the short test on that in Hawaii. We are expecting to have our first contractor test flight on the 17th of February,” George Barton, Lockheed Martin’s director of Naval Helicopter Programs, told Defense Daily recently.
The periscope recognition technology will be installed at the end of the Lot 9 production run in April 2013, he added.
“Our engineering change proposal will provide a retrofit plan,” Barton said. “Certainly, all the forward aircraft will have it. [We are] breaking it in with about 130 aircraft left to go.”
Earlier this month, the industry team delivered the 50th aircraft to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron Seven Zero (HSM-70). Last July, HSM-71 returned from the first-ever MH- 60R deployment.
“What the 50th aircraft represents is the successes we have had in the past,” Barton said.
The MH-60R went to initial operational capability in 2006 and will be reaching full-rate production capacity of 24 to 36 helicopters, this year, he added.
“I think for both Sikorsky, certainly, for Lockheed Martin, this was a big milestone for us. To reach the point where we can turn these airplanes out…at a significant rate for the Navy and also have the capacity to address the international market.”
Sikorsky has been in production on the MH-60R since 2004 and in full-rate production since 2005, Leonard Wengle, Sikorsky, vice president, Navy programs, told Defense Daily.
“Our big ramp occurred last year where we went from 11 in ’08 to 28 in ’09,” he said.
When Sikorsky is finished building the helicopters, they are delivered to Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems & Sensors facility in Owego, NY., for missionization, before being handed over to the Navy, Wengle added.
“This year, we will be delivering over 30, and generally speaking, we will be delivering between 24 and 36 aircraft to the Navy through 2019,” he said.
There continues to be strong international interest in the MH-60R, Barton noted. In fact, Team Romeo (made up of the Navy, Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky and some other industrial partners) have already submitted a proposal to India, Barton said.
“We are waiting downselect for the trials period. They have basically reviewed the compliance for their requirements based on what we submitted on paper,” he said. “The next phase would be to do a fly-off competition and ensure compliance through that process.”
Australia has also shown interest in the helicopter, Barton added. “The Navy is very excited about selling this platform to key allies.”
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Rear Adm. Steve Voetsch, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (International Programs) and director, Navy International Program Office, were both in Australia recently talking to that government about the MH-60R, Barton said.
“We are expecting we may see something out of their process here at the end of the month, beginning of March, to basically lay a program in,” he said.
According to Barton, the Australians have issued a white paper laying out a requirement for 24 naval helicopters. “We are hoping that one comes along pretty quickly.”
Team Romeo has also been talking to Denmark as well as a number of other countries, he added.
“We have structured [the MH-60R program] so that you have enough in flow to handle the international sales,” Wengle said. “We have the capacity to handle up to 48 aircraft and the Navy’s requirement is somewhere between 24 and 36 depending on what year you are looking at. We think we are pretty well positioned to handle any demand.
“We are trying to sell the R ‘as is’ internationally, because it is pretty much the most capable aircraft out there, so you don’t really have to do a lot of modifications to it,” Wengle added.
But that isn’t to say Lockheed Martin or Sikorsky, for that matter, have not been working on upgrades to the MH-60R. Right after initial operational capability in 2006, Lockheed Martin entered into a development program that had about 18 upgrades that they added to the aircraft, Barton said.
Those included upgrades to the communications, navigation, and weapon systems, he noted.
The most significant of those upgrades was the addition of Link 16 and the Ku data links, Barton said.
“We also added a second weapons pylon for additional Hellfires and an additional torpedo–pretty significant upgrades,” he added.
Other modifications to the MH-60R include reliability upgrades on the radar for the Lot 4 and 5 aircraft, Barton noted. “They actually have proven to be very successful.”
“We upgraded the ESM processor in the LoT 5 deliveries, of which aircraft number 50 is part of. We just finished up an acoustics upgrade which will be broken into Lot 6 which delivers in April this year,” Barton said. “The open architecture nature of the MH-60R helps make those upgrades a lot easier.”
Lockheed Martin has an ongoing internal research and development effort to make the MH-60R’s system even more open, he added.
Most of Sikorsky’s work has been to update corrosion protection in the aircraft, main gear box, and other systems, Wengle said. “There have been some improvements to the engines that have been incorporated through GE.”
There has also been an active vibration system incorporated into the program, as an upgrade, that is now being delivered out of production, he added. “It reduces the cost of ownership and improves the ride of the aircraft.”
“There was also a number of technologies such as high-speed machining that have been leveraged with the program to reduce some of the part count and weight of the aircraft,” Wengle said.