THE INDUSTRIAL BASE

H-1 Helicopter Upgrade Program Cleared for Production at Bell

By RICHARD R. BURGESS
Managing Editor

Bell Helicopter Textron has received approval from the Defense Acquisition Board--the procurement oversight panel of the Department of Defense--to begin low-rate initial production (LRIP) of remanufactured AH-1 helicopter gunships and UH-1 utility helicopters for the Marine Corps.

In the initial LRIP lot, Bell will remanufacture six UH-1N Huey utility helicopters and three AH-1W SuperCobra helicopter gunships to UH-1Y and AH-1Z configurations, respectively. A second identical LRIP lot is scheduled for fiscal year 2005 production.

"This is a huge milestone for us as we transition from being a developmental program to actually delivering aircraft to the fleet," said Marine Col. Doug Isleib, program manager for the Marine Corps' Light/Attack Helicopter Program. Three prototype AH-1Zs and two UH-1Ys have been going through testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.

The H-1 Upgrade program involves remanufacturing UH-1Ns, HH-1Ns, and AH-1Ws with new systems and a high degree of commonality. Systems and components in common between the UH-1Y and AH-1Z include GE T700 turbine engines; four all-composite rotor blades; a hingeless and bearingless main rotor system and tail rotor; and identical drive trains, hydraulics, and electrical distribution systems. The remanufactured helicopters also will include new mission systems and armament. The common systems are designed to reduce life-cycle costs and improve performance, survivability, and maintainability of the helicopters for the Marine Corps.

The Marine Corps plans to remanufacture a total of 180 AH-1Ws to AH-1Zs and 100 UH-1Ns and HH-1Ns to UH-1Ys. The UH-1Ns were delivered to the Marine Corps between 1971 and 1977 and have never had a service life extension. The AH-1W fleet is a combination of production AH-1Ws and others modified from AH-1Ts, all delivered between 1986 and 2000.

VT Halter Marine Yard Delivers New NOAA Fisheries Survey Ship

VT Halter Marine has delivered the first of four new Fisheries Survey Vessels (FSVs) to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The Oscar Dyson was christened by Peggy Dyson-Malson, widow of the ship's namesake, Oscar Dyson, in ceremonies at VT Halter Marine's shipyard in Gulfport, Miss. Oscar Dyson was a North Pacific fisheries pioneer.

The 208-foot-long Oscar Dyson--scheduled for commissioning in late 2004--will be homeported in Kodiak, Alaska. The ship's primary mission will be to monitor the fisheries and ecosystems of the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska, particularly the multibillion Alaskan Pollock industry.

NOAA Administrator Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr., a retired Navy vice admiral, chose the Oct. 17 occasion to announce that NOAA had exercised a $38.8 million option for a second FSV, for which steel was cut that day. The second FSV will replace the NOAA ship 40-year-old Albatross IV in New England. A third planned FSV is slated to replace the NOAA ship Oregon II in Pascagoula, Miss.

Fabrication Begins at LM, NG For F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

Subcontractors for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program have begun machining the first structures for the new strike fighter, which will be assembled by Lockheed Martin at its mile-long assembly line facility in Fort Worth, Texas.

Milling machines at Progressive Inc. in Arlington, Texas, and at H.M. Dunn Company in Euless, Texas, began cutting large structural components for the F-35 on Nov. 10, 2003, simultaneously with Brek Manufacturing in Gardena, Calif.--a subcontractor to teammate Northrop Grumman--that began milling the canopy shelf for the aircraft.

Progressive began cutting a major bulkhead for the aircraft's wing section, while H.M. Dunn began work on the forward fuselage radar bulkhead.

Major subassemblies--which will be completed by Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems in El Segundo, Calif., and BAE Systems in Salmesbury, United Kingdom--will be shipped to Fort Worth for final assembly.

"Up to now, the F-35 has existed in a world of mathematical formulas and three-dimensional electronic engineering diagrams," said Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager of the F-35 program, in a Nov. 10 release. "Today it starts emerging as a real airplane."

The first F-35 is scheduled for completion in mid-2005 and to make its first flight later in 2005.

In a related development, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company has been awarded a $602.6 million Naval Air Systems Command contract for procurement of supplies and services for the development and demonstration of an international version of the Joint Strike Fighter that is as common as possible with the U.S. version.

MH-60S Helicopter Passes Navy Operational Evaluation

The MH-60S multimission helicopter--built by Sikorsky Aircraft Company, with the MH-60 Common Cockpit built by Lockheed Martin--has been declared "operationally effective and operationally suitable" by the Navy's Operational Test & Evaluation Force.

The helicopter's operational evaluation was conducted in the summer of 2003 by Air Test & Evaluation Squadron One, based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The squadron's evaluators are fleet-experienced personnel who rate the aircraft on its potential for successful fleet service.

The MH-60S--which entered fleet service in mid-2002--already equips one fleet readiness squadron, two helicopter combat support squadrons, and is in the process of completely replacing the H-46 Sea Knight in two more squadrons. The MH-60S, as well as the MH-60R still under development, also will replace the SH-60B, SH-60F, HH-60H, HH-1N, and UH-3H in Navy service.

The MH-60S and MH-60R feature the Lockheed Martin Common Cockpit that includes digital displays for aircraft flight parameters and tactical decision-making. Lockheed Martin is under contract to provide the Common Cockpit for 88 MH-60Ss and 12 MH-60Rs. The company expects to build an additional 385 cockpits for the MH-60 programs.

Defense Industry Notes

*Lockheed Martin has been awarded an $812.5 million Naval Sea Systems Command contract to continue development of the ballistic-missile defense (BMD) capability of the Aegis Weapon System installed on all of the Navy's guided-missile cruisers and guided-missile destroyers as the sea-based element of the Ballistic-missile Defense System. The sea-based element is designed to intercept and destroy short- and medium-range ballistic missiles. The company will develop and integrate upgrades to the Aegis system and its BMD signal processor, Mk41 vertical launch system, and command-and-control system, and will support flight tests of the associated missile systems.

*The AGM-158 JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile)--built by Lockheed Martin has been certified ready for operational use by the JASSM Joint Program Office. The missile--which has a range greater than 200 miles--is first being deployed on Air Force B-52 bombers and is planned for deployment on Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18 strike fighters, as well as Air Force B-1, B-2, and F-16 aircraft. Navy procurement of 453 JASSMs is expected to begin in fiscal year 2007.

*Integrated Coast Guard Systems, the industry team for the Coast Guard's Deepwater program, has delivered the first communications system Deepwater upgrade for a Coast Guard cutter. The upgrade--installed on the USCGC Northland, a Famous-class medium-endurance cutter--improves the performance of the cutter's existing communications systems and allows access to intelligence and data sources previously unavailable to the cutter. The upgrade will be installed on the other 12 Famous-class cutters, as well as nine Hamilton-class high-endurance cutters and 14 Reliance-class medium-endurance cutters.

*Lockheed Martin's WLD-1 Remote Minehunting System has successfully completed initial sea trials of two key subsystems, the launch and recovery subsystem and the line-of-sight and over-the-horizon modes of the data link subsystem. The WLD-1 includes an unmanned submersible that tows a variable-depth sonar for detecting moored and bottom mines in a littoral environment.

*Rockwell Collins has been awarded a $20 million contract from Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems to provide the Flight Dynamics HGS-3000--a dual head-up display system--for the Marine Corps KC-130J and Air Force C-130J aircraft. The HGS-3000--the only dual head-up display certified by the Federal Aviation Administration--features a holographic combiner that provides the pilot with critical flight information, including the aircraft's flight path appearing as overlaying the outside real-world view in a true one-for-one relationship.