MH-60 Romeo, Sierra Rack Up Successes

By RICHARD R. BURGESS
Managing Editor

The Navy's newest helicopters--the MH-60R and MH-60S--have scored impressive accomplishments in tests and operations over the past year, a promising start for the stars of the Navy's Helicopter Master Plan, the roadmap for the helicopter's future in the Navy.

The MH-60R and MH-60S airframes are built by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in Stratford, Conn. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, N.Y., the systems integrator for the helicopters, developed the digital Common Cockpit installed in both types of aircraft. The Common Cockpit enables the helicopter aircraft commander to fly the aircraft from either seat in the cockpit with equal effectiveness and safety.
The MH-60R Seahawk is intended to replace the SH-60B LAMPS III (Light Airborne Multipurpose System III) helicopter and the SH-60F carrier-based antisubmarine helicopter. Its first operational tests (OT-2A) are being conducted by Air Test & Evaluation Squadron One (VX-1) at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) at Andros Island in the Bahamas.

"These are exciting times to be working with the Navy helicopter community," said Paul Monseur, director of Multimission Helicopter Programs for Lockheed Martin. Speaking of the operational test period, Monseur said, "We're excited for the fleet guys ... taking it for a ride."

The results of the MH-60R's operational tests will be sent to John J. Young Jr., assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development, and acquisition, who will make the decision to approve the second low-rate-initial-production (LRIP 2) batch of six new production MH-60Rs. The Navy has already awarded contracts to Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin for advance procurement of materials for LRIP 2. Deliveries of LRIP 2 MH-60Rs are expected to begin in November or December 2005.

Two MH-60Rs recorded numerous firsts--including the aircraft's first shipboard landing--in a three-week developmental test period beginning in January 2003 at AUTEC during which the aircraft's radar, acoustic sensors, and ALQ-210 electronic surveillance measures (ESM) system were evaluated as individual units and as an integrated suite.

The aircraft's ALQ-147 Multimode Radar (MMR)--an inverse synthetic-aperture imaging radar (ISAR)--achieved its first detection of a submarine periscope and produced its first ISAR display of a surfaced submarine. ISAR is capable of displaying an image of a target with resolution enough to classify and identify the target.

The MH-60R's acoustic system achieved its first processing of self-launched sonobuoy data, first underwater communications, and first dip of the AQS-22 airborne low-frequency sonar using Lockheed Martin's new commercial-off-the-shelf acoustic processor. The AUTEC tests also marked the first time the radar and sonar worked together to track the same target, and the first time sonobuoy and sonar data were processed to display a coherent tactical picture.

The AUTEC tests also marked the MH-60R's first successful radar, ISAR, ESM, and acoustics data transmission to a Navy ship.

Four MH-60R test articles are assigned to Helicopter Air Test & Evaluation Squadron 21 (HX-21) at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The three LRIP 1 MH-60Rs--also remanufactured aircraft--are going through tests with VX-1. The first two MH-60Rs, prototypes modified from SH-60Bs and formerly designated YSH-60Rs, were used as test platforms for sensors but no longer are being flown and may be stricken from the Navy's inventory.

The MH-60R program is "on track, making all of its milestones," said Capt. Bill Shannon, the Navy's program manager for the MH-60. Technical evaluation of the MH-60R is scheduled from October 2003 through March 2004. Operational evaluation is scheduled for May 2004 through November 2004.
The Navy plans to procure 114 MH-60Rs in fiscal years 2004 through 2009. The program has cost the Navy $289.2 million through FY 2003. The Navy has requested $453.2 million to procure six MH-60Rs in FY 2004, as well as $46.5 million for advance procurement for future years. The Navy's total requirement for MH-60Rs has increased from 243 to 254.

The Navy already has obtained approval for a Block 1 upgrade for the MH-60R, and funding has been requested for fiscal year 2004, with an initial operational capability scheduled for 2008. The planned upgrades include the addition of a weapons pylon on the starboard side of the fuselage (to allow the aircraft to carry eight Hellfire missiles); the hardware and software needed to give it the ability to launch the Mk54 antisubmarine torpedo; and installation of a third-generation infrared sensor, the AAS-44A--the same type installed on the RQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle.

The Navy has a requirement for an antiship missile for the MH-60R Block 1 that will replace the AGM-119 Penguin missile deployed on the SH-60B. The Joint Common Missile, a replacement for the Hellfire, may be a candidate for this requirement.

The current MH-60R configuration includes the Tactical Common Data Link (TCDL), a point-to-point link that transmits pure sensor data from the helicopter to the mother ship. The TCDL will replace the C-band Hawklink used by the SH-60B. The Block 1 upgrade also will add Link 16, the tactical link common to ships and aircraft in a carrier strike group.

The Block 1 upgrade also includes the installation of infrared suppressor shrouds on the engine exhausts similar to those installed on the HH-60H Seahawk, but removable when not needed. The shrouds weigh 125 pounds and reduce the power and fuel economy of each engine by two percent when installed.
The MH-60S--known unofficially as the Knighthawk and based on the Army's UH-60 Black Hawk airframe with SH-60 Seahawk engines and dynamic components--has completed its first year of operational service, including vertical replenishment (VERTREP) support to carrier strike groups in the Persian Gulf during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Vertical replenishment involves the use of rotary-wing aircraft to lift supplies from one ship to another.

The MH-60S is rapidly replacing the ancient CH-46D, HH-46D, and UH-46D Sea Knight helicopters in the VERTREP role. MH-60Ss initially were delivered to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Three (HC-3)--the MH-60S fleet readiness squadron--at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, Calif., and since have been delivered to the four operational HC VERTREP squadrons (HCs 5, 6, 8, and 11). The remaining Navy H-46Ds will be retired by the end of FY 2004.

The HH-1N, HH-46D, and UH-3H helicopters serving in the station search-and-rescue (SAR) role will be replaced by SH-60Fs retired from carrier use--which will in turn be replaced by late-production MH-60Ss. MH-60Ss also will replace HH-60H helicopters on carrier decks in the combat SAR role.

Shannon noted the success story of the MH-60S procurement. The decision to replace the H-46 with the MH-60S was made in April 1998. The first MH-60S Block 1 was delivered two years later, and initial operational capability was reached only four years after program go-ahead. The MH-60S Block 1 development program cost $74.6 million, $1.4 million less than allocated.

The Navy already has ordered or received 65 MH-60Ss (through FY 2003) and plans to procure 157 MH-60Ss in FYs 2004 through 2009. The Navy's total requirement for MH-60Ss has increased from 237 to 271.

The program has cost the Navy $1.5 billion through FY 2003. The Navy's FY 2004 budget request totals $445.4 million for 13 MH-60Ss and $95.0 million for future years advance procurement.

Two upgrades are underway for the MH-60S. The Block 2 upgrade--designed to provide 44 kits for an organic airborne mine countermeasures capability--includes the ability to deploy the AQS-20A sonar mine detection set and the AES-1 Airborne Laser Mine Detection System by FY 2005, and the Airborne Mine Neutralization System, the Organic Airborne & Surface Influence Sweep (OASIS) system, and the Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance System by FY 2007. The first Block 2 MH-60S test article is scheduled for delivery in July 2003.

The 52 planned kits of the Block 3 upgrade--planned for service entry in FY 2006--are designed to arm the MH-60S for combat SAR and support of special operations forces. The upgrade includes installation of an infrared sensor, crew-served machine guns, external weapons mounts, precision-guided air-to-ground weapons, a refueling probe, and a mission computer.

The MH-60 fleet already had accrued 21,000 flight hours by May 2003. HC-5's MH-60S VERTREP detachment in the Persian Gulf during Operation Iraqi Freedom completed 100 percent of its sorties and maintained a 95 percent mission-capable rate, Shannon said.

The Helicopter Master Plan envisions 31 operational squadrons equipped with MH-60s, organized in four wings (two on each coast). Five squadrons of MH-60Rs and five squadrons of MH-60Ss would be assigned to each coast for deployment in carrier strike groups (with one squadron of each type in each carrier strike group). Five other MH-60R expeditionary squadrons (two in the Atlantic, three in the Pacific) will provide detachments for ships steaming independently. Six other MH-60S expeditionary squadrons (three in the Atlantic, three in the Pacific) will provide detachments for amphibious assault ships and some logistics and command ships. In addition, fleet replacement squadrons for each type would be positioned on each coast. *