As the U.S. Army nears a low-rate initial production decision in the coming months on the UH-60V Black Hawk, Northrop Grumman [NOC], which builds the integrated avionics suite for the -V, is eyeing possible applications on other aircraft.
The UH-60V’s open architecture construct “can extend to virtually any other rotorcraft, domestic or international,” Robert Fleming, vice president of emerging systems and strategic initiatives at Northrop Grumman’s land and avionics C4ISR division, said during an interview on Tuesday at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference Oct. 9 in Washington, D.C. “Future Vertical Lift is one of the opportunities that’s out there in the future.”
Northrop Grumman designed the system with an open architecture approach that allows third-party upgrades without involvement by the original equipment manufacturer.
The -V includes a number of digital cockpit upgrades, including the same human-machine interface as the -M model to ease the -V’s transition into the fleet.
“If you look at a -60M, the human machine interface, or pilot-vehicle interface, looks identical on the -60V,” Fleming said. “That was one of the requirements. The Army wanted to be able to take a -60M-trained pilot and transition them to a -60V, and vice versa, without having to send them to a many-week training effort.”
Apart from a common look with the -M, the -V is to have significantly advanced avionics, such as new mission computers, including a Flite Pro Gen III Mission Computer that the U.S. Marine Corps is moving to install on its Huey fleet.
Under a contract awarded in 2014, Northrop Grumman is partnered with the Army Prototype Integration Facility and prime contractor Redstone Defense Systems to modernize the Army’s fleet of UH-60L helicopters by replacing older analog gauges with digital electronic instrument displays.
The UH-60V is to have localizer performance with vertical guidance (LPV) used by commercial aircraft to help landings in low-visibility conditions and remote locations. LPV “allows you to shoot GPS approaches,” Fleming said. “For commercial pilots, that’s become an expectation. Being able to bring that to the U.S. Army fleet, that’s something they’re very excited about that.”
The UH-60V meets the standards for safety-critical software development and is designed to comply with the FAA and EASA’s global air traffic management requirements, enabling the system to traverse military and civilian airspace worldwide, Northrop Grumman said.