Airbus A400M during a demonstration flight June 20, 2011 at the 2011 Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, France. (M. Scott Mahaskey/Staff)

PARIS — The multinational program manager for the A400M military airlifter is due to sign a contract around the end of the year covering a cooperative service support for Britain and France, a French official said June 24.

“They’re aiming for around the end of 2011,” the official said.

The planned signing, covering maintenance and repairs for British and French A400M fleets, by the Organisme Conjoint de Coopération en matière d’armement (OCCAR) would be the first contract to be inked under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed June 21 at the Paris Air Show, which ends June 26.

Officials representing six of the seven launch customers of the A400M signed the MoU, the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) procurement office said in a June 22 statement.

Britain, France, Germany and Spain signed June 21, while Belgium — which also signed on behalf of Luxembourg — signed June 22. Turkey is due to sign the MoU in the next few weeks after a parliamentary ratification, the DGA official.

DGA head Laurent Collet-Billon signed for France, the DGA official.

The MoU provides the framework agreement for support for the A400M, the statement said. Under the agreement, there will be a “common core” covering management of aircraft configuration, data management and possibly spares, the DGA official said.

The MoU will also be the framework agreement for French-U.K. cooperation for all other support activities, including maintenance and repairs, the DGA official said. Collaborative support for British and French A400M aircraft was one of the projects agreed under the Nov. 2, 2010, Lancaster House treaty on bilateral defense cooperation.

— Pierre Tran

Brownouts are a phenomenon where particulate matter is kicked into the air in a desert or dusty environment by a helicopter’s rotors and obscures the pilot’s view of his surroundings when a helicopter is very near the ground, Brownouts can potentially lead to a crash.

Although one solution is increased training, the infusion of technology could greatly reduce the number of accidents, especially if both are done in tandem.

BLAST is an Army effort to do just that, said Mark Sadel, BAE Systems’ director of international business development.

“We’ve come up with BLAST, which is a capability to see though all obscurants,” Sadel said.

BAE’s solution uses very lightweight 94 GHz millimeter wave radar to create a synthetic image of the helicopter’s surrounding, which can then be fed into the pilot’s helmet to restore his situational awareness.

The development of small computers capable of generating massive processing power enabled the breakthrough, Sadel said. “That’s the secret,” he said.

The radar has enough processing power to image even moving contacts, he said.

Though the company has not studied the issue, the system also could have tactical applications, he said.

A U.S. Air Force F-16 sits on the tarmac at the 2011 Paris Air Show / Defense News photo by Bradley Peniston

By DAVE MAJUMDAR • PARIS — The F-35′s delayed arrival means the U.S. Air Force will likely need to upgrade its long-serving F-16s, which make up half the service’s fighter fleet.

Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at the Teal Group, Fairfax, Va., said the Air Force will “look closely at [Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA)] radar upgrades beyond the current (V)9 program, but also ongoing engine power and reliability improvements, [electronic warfare] and cockpit mods, and of course any necessary structural work for aging airframes.”

Lockheed Martin, which builds the aircraft, has some ideas as to what the service needs to do to keep the Fighting Falcon in fighting trim into the 2030s.

The jet has to have its structural life extended from the standard 8,000 hours to between 10,000 and 12,000 hours. Certain parts of the structure will have to be modified, said Bill McHenry, Lockheed’s F-16 business development chief.

Currently, the Air Force is evaluating the structural life left in its newer Block 40 and 50 F-16s, McHenry said. Those aircraft might have life left in them past 8,000 hours because they have been flown in relatively benign configurations, he said.

The older Block 25s and 30s have been flown hard in configurations that are not conducive to extended airframe life; for example, carrying asymmetrical loads.

McHenry said retrofitting structural upgrades should not be a problem. The key to keeping the aircraft relevant is the avionics.

McHenry said that AESA radars from Raytheon and Northrop Grumman are likely to have to compete to win a contract to replace the existing radar.

Further consideration is being given to adding the Multi-function Advanced Data-Link (MADL) from the F-35 on to the F-16, which would allow the aircraft to be interoperable with fifth-generation stealth fighters. Such upgrades should be fairly simple because of the F-16’s hardware architecture, McHenry said. “We’re very proud of the fact that we offer our customers options,” he said.

L-3's Video Scout software on an Android smartphone sits amid its larger cousins. / Defense News photo by Bradley Peniston

By BRADLEY PENISTON • PARIS — Not all of the advances displayed at the airshow concerned aircraft and aviation accoutrements. L-3 Communications showed off a smartphone that puts video feeds from — and even remote control of — surveillance turrets in the pocket of ground troops.

The magic’s not in the phone itself; any sufficiently advanced Android handset will run the software, dubbed Vision Scout, said Todd Gautier, president of L-3’s precision engagement division.

Vision Scout has been around for about five years, first as PC software, then as a laptop-plus-radio package, then as a handheld device the size of two large sandwiches. The Android app was developed over the course of just a few months after Gautier jokingly challenged his crew to build one.

In a demonstration, Gautier pulled up the feed from a turret mounted on a pole outside the L-3 chalet. A color TV picture overlaid with typical picture data appears. He tapped the screen, and the camera swung back and forth, zoomed in and out.

Various features allow a user to work with others: sharing feeds with other users, looking through each others’ cellphone cameras, showing the location of the camera or its target on a map. It comes with AES 256-bit encryption.

Gautier said the Video Scout app is “priced at a level that makes it possible for the civil police market.”

Artist's conception of two U.S. Marine Corps CH-53K helicopters, sling-loaded with two Humvees apiece, refueling from a KC-130 tanker / U.S. Navy image

By BRADLEY PENISTON • PARIS — The first ground-test model of the CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter is under construction, and the U.S. Navy effort is on track for first flight in 2014, a production decision in 2015, and initial operation in 2018, program officials said June 21.

Lead contractor Sikorsky, now under contract for the test vehicle and four aircraft, is currently negotiating the first low-rate initial production deal, said Sikorsky’s Dave Zack.

That schedule reflects last year’s decision to delay first flight by two years and IOC by three.

The centerpiece of the new variant is raw power: three GE38 turbine engines will develop 7,500 shaft horsepower, up from the 4,300 of the current CH-53E model. Test units had run for 444 hours through March, according to Navy briefing slides.

The new power plants will allow the K model to roughly double the payload of existing 53s, lofting 27,000 pounds 110 nautical miles.

The customer is the U.S. Marine Corps, which plans to buy 200 Ks to replace and then enlarge its heavy-lift fleet, said Marine Col. Robert Pridgen.

As for the U.S. Navy, which currently operates its own -53s for logistics work?

“The Navy has not decided on heavy lift,” Pridgen said.

The Italian Navy's first NH90 naval helicopter, on display at the 2011 Paris Air Show / Defense News photo by Bradley Peniston

By TOM KINGTON • PARIS — The Italian Navy’s first NH90 helicopter was delivered the week before the Air Show. Another three are due for delivery by next summer in a non-final version before final versions begin to arrive with upgraded radars and electronic
warfare suites. Ultimately, the Navy will buy 56 NH90s, including 10 troop transport format. Most will replace AB212s.

They wouldn’t say whom.

“There are a number of other countries that have expressed an interest in this platform said,” Rear Adm. Steve Eastburg, program executive officer for Air ASW, Assault & Special Mission programs. “The future of this platform is very, very bright.”

Marine Col. Greg Masiello, who heads the V-22 program, echoed that.

“I can tell you we’re talking to multiple international parties,” Masiello said.

There is also interest from the U.S. Army, whose “medical community is absolutely enamored with the capabilities of these aircraft,” he said.

Nor is the future of tilt-rotor technology really all that bleak. The U.S., which one of the partners, is fighting wars at the same time, is vesting in such technology, Masilleo said.

As for the Joint Multi-Role aircraft program that is coming up, both Eastburg and Masilleio expect it to feature tilt-rotors.

From left, U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z attack and UH-1Y utility helicopters on display at 2011 Paris Air Show / Defense News photo by Bradley Peniston

By DAVE MAJUMDAR • PARIS — The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has found a way to fix durability problems with the rotor head of its new Bell UH-1Y utility and AH-1Z attack helicopters.

Originally, the aircraft’s composite rotor cuff and yoke, which are part of the helicopter’s rotor head, were intended to last for 10,000 hours. Instead, they were wearing out in just 1,200 hours.

Quick fixes have boosted the average life to 1,300 hours, and a longer-term solution is in the works, said Marine Col. Harry Hewson, who leads the H-1 project for NAVAIR.

“We’re redesigning those components to be more producible, cheaper for us to buy, and to last longer,” Hewson said.

The new goal is to 5,000 hours on average, and no less than 2,500.

Hewson said the original 10,000 hour goal was never realistic.

Limited testing is currently underway, with full-scale tests to begin later.

If all goes well, fleet helicopter units will receive the new parts as older ones wear out.

Hewson’s office is also working to added networking capabilities to communicate via data link to drones and other ground forces.

Additionally, a new directed infrared counter measures system might be integrated on to the helicopter. The component would have to be integral to the air vehicle rather than an addon, Hewson said, because the aircraft are rather small.

In a briefing at the Paris Air Show on June 21, U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. C.D. Moore, deputy program executive officer for the F-35 program, said that the aircraft could fly at 750 knots and Mach 1.6. That would mean that at certain altitudes, the aircraft has a top speed that is considerably higher than previously known, although the Mach limit would remain the same.

Just a week earlier, F-35 test pilot Lt. Col. Hank “Hog” Griffiths had said the aircraft could do just 700 knots and Mach 1.6. Other test pilots had previously cited the same airspeeds.

By way of comparison, the F-16 is a 800-knot and Mach 2 jet.

AT-802U Air Tractor / Defense News photo by Bradley Peniston

By DAVE MAJUMDAR • PARIS — Moog Space and Defense Group and Air Tractor Incorporated have found a buyer for the AT-802U light attack aircraft.

While company officials will only say they have made a sale for 10 such aircraft, which can carry an 8,000-pound payload and has 11 weapons hardpoints, other sources say that the aircraft are bound for the Middle East. One source said the aircraft are being sold to the United Arab Emirates.

AT-802 is a converted agricultural aircraft that has been fitted with a L-3 Wescam MX-15Di electro-optical infrared sensor and Rover data link. But, the aircraft still retains the wire-and-pulley flight control systems found on other general aviation aircraft. The Air Tractor company intentionally retained as much simplicity in the design as possible, said Mike Rhodes, an Air Tractor test pilot.

The aircraft retains the rugged landing gear, tough roll-over cage and beefy landing gear of its agricultural cousin. However, it is powered by a massive Pratt and Whitney Canada PT-6 turboprop producing 1,600 hp.

The converted aircraft is agile, but not aerobatic, Rhodes said. However, the aircraft is powerfully armed, with .50-caliber machine guns, bombs, rockets and missiles, among others, all controlled by Moog-built stores management system.

Of particular interest is a new Moog-developed air-to-ground weapon. Called the Moog Precision Guided Munitions, it is a 125-pound glide bomb that is similar in concept to the Pentagon’s Small Diameter Bomb. Jim Riedel, Moog’s business director, said that the weapon has a 40-pound warhead and is guided by an inertial navigation system with GPS assistance. It would be able to hit targets as far away as 25 miles away, he said.

The main advantage for a force acquiring the Air Tractor is that the aircraft an order of magnitude cheaper than any existing combat aircraft and offers better loitering time than a helicopter. However, it is an open question how a converted farm machine will cope with the rigors of combat.