The first production-model CH-60S Knighthawk combat support helicopter has taken to the air for the first time at Sikorsky Aircraft Company's Stratford, Conn., facility. The helicopter demonstrated both hover and forward flight, including some basic maneuvers, to an audience of Sikorsky and Navy officials.

The CH-60S is the first newly designed helicopter delivered to the Navy in more than a decade. Deliveries of the H-60 Seahawk ended in 1996 when the last HH-60H was delivered. The first two CH-60Ss--part of the six-aircraft Lot I LRIP (low-rate initial-production) block--were delivered in December 1999. The remainder are expected to be delivered by June 2000. A follow-on contract for Lot II is expected for deliveries from July 2000 through June 2001. The Navy is expected to purchase more than 200 CH-60Ss.

The first CH-60S will be flown to the Rotary-Wing Aircraft Test Squadron at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., this spring for developmental and operational testing. The YCH-60, a prototype fabricated from a UH-60L and an SH-60B, has been flying in various concept-developmental tests, including some related to the difficult mine-countermeasures mission.

The CH-60S Knighthawk is a blend of the Army's UH-60L Black Hawk and the Navy's SH-60 Seahawk. The aircraft features the larger cabin, double cargo doors, and external stores system of the Black Hawk, and the engines, rotor system, drive train, automatic blade-folding system, rotor brake, rescue hoist, automatic flight control computer, and improved-durability gearbox of the Seahawk. The CH-60S also will have a digital "glass" cockpit--built by Lockheed Martin Federal Systems--that also will be installed on the SH-60R version being remanufactured from SH-60B and SH-60F antisubmarine helicopters.

NNS Selects LM NE&SS For CVN 77 Warfare Integrator

Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) has selected a team led by Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems (LM NE&SS) to integrate the warfare systems in CVN 77, the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier scheduled to be built at the NNS yard in Newport News, Va.

The selection represents a "first" for NNS, according to Irwin F. Edenzon, director of future carrier programs for the company. "For previous carrier programs, the Navy has provided the warfare system as government-furnished equipment [GFE]," he noted.

Warfare systems integration involves linking the sensors, armament, communications, aircraft-control systems, and the ship's other electronics and avionics systems into one netted interoperable system. The integration is designed to synergistically improve the ship's warfighting capabilities and also to reduce the manpower required to operate the ship.

LM NE&SS, based in Moorestown, N.J., is teamed with Northrop Grumman, Solypsis, and the Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command for the project.

"CVN 77 is the first step in the Navy's three-ship evolutionary strategy for developing the next class of carriers," said Edenzon. "The CVN 77 warfare system will be the first building block to the next class of carriers. Because of that, we will work with Lockheed Martin Corporation to deliver an open-architecture, COTS [commercial-off-the-shelf] technology-based system that will allow us to readily support and upgrade the system over its projected 50-year service life."

NNS expects to be awarded a contract for detailed design and construction of CVN 77 in December 2000. The ship is scheduled to enter fleet service in 2008.

Dassault, Intergraph Announce Strategic Alliance in Shipbuilding

Dassault Systemes S.A. of France and Intergraph Corporation of the United States have formed what the two companies call a "strategic alliance" to develop and market a comprehensive set of shipbuilding software applications.

Both companies have extensive experience in computer-aided design and will use that experience, officials said, to meet the "end-to-end global requirements of shipbuilders and ship owners."

The alliance plans to offer software applications "covering ship engineering, manufacturing, maintenance, and life-cycle processes within a single, integrated environment," the companies said in a joint announcement.

Intergraph's strengths include its "data-centric engineering design applications and industry expertise as embodied in its next-generation GSCAD (Global Shipbuilding Computer-Aided Design) software." Dassault Systemes' expertise includes its CATIA shipbuilding software, its DENEB manufacturing capabilities, and its ENOVIA product-life solutions.

"The Dassault Systemes and Intergraph relationship will build upon each company's strengths," said David Stinson, executive vice president for process and building solutions at Intergraph. "We expect the benefits provided to ship builders and ship owners alike ... will be far greater than either company could provide by itself."

Dominique Florack, executive vice president for research and development at Dassault, said that the alliance "enables us to offer a unique and comprehensive solution to meet customers' end-to-end needs in shipbuilding and operations processes."

Litton Ingalls, Lucent Tech Collaborate on Smart Ships

The Ingalls Division of Litton Ship Systems is collaborating with Lucent Technologies to develop new "breakthrough communications-technology applications" for Navy ships.

Under the agreement, Ingalls will provide expertise in robotics, ship design and production, and fabrication using advanced materials; Lucent will provide expertise in communications and data networking and in wireless, optical, and Internet technologies.

"Our goal is to work with Ingalls to create 'Smart Ships,'" said Jim O'Neill, president of Lucent's Government Solutions business unit. "Cutting-edge technologies ... used routinely to solve the global communications needs of corporations ... [also] can be used to automate ship systems, equipment, and displays, and to provide the Navy with ready access to information--when and where it is needed."

"Conditions at sea can present unusual demands on technology," said Pat Keene, president of Litton Ingalls. "But we intend to use Ingalls' experience in design and manufacturing to demonstrate that it is possible to routinely use leading-edge technologies at sea.

As the Navy moves to 'Knowledge-Centric' technology" he said, "Ingalls will be ready."

Defense Industry Notes

Sanders, a Lockheed Martin defense electronics company, has selected BAE Systems as the electronic warfare/countermeasures subcontractor for the Lockheed Martin design for the Joint Strike Fighter competition.

Newport News Shipbuilding has been awarded a $216.5 million contract modification to continue preparations for the comprehensive overhaul and refueling of the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which will enter the shipyard in 2001 for three years. The work, which is intended to extend the ship's life to approximately 50 years, will include the first, and only, refueling of the ship's two nuclear reactors.

Raytheon has been awarded a $200 million order for 111 APG-73 radar units for F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters. Delivery of the radar kits--being built for the U.S. Navy (19 kits), U.S. Marine Corps (21), and Royal Australian Air Force (71)--is expected to be completed by October 2002.

Stratos Global Corporation has been awarded a $48 million contract from the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command to provide high-speed data satellite communications services to the Navy's battle groups and amphibious ready groups.

Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems has been awarded a $20 million contract by the Naval Air Systems Command to upgrade two SH-60F Seahawk helicopter weapon-system trainers. The upgrades--which include installation of night-vision goggles, a forward-looking infrared sensor, and ASE (aircraft survivability equipment) simulation systems--will allow the trainers to simulate the HH-60H Seahawk combat search-and-rescue helicopter as well as the SH-60F.

Wyle Laboratories has been awarded a five-year $10 million contract by the Naval Surface Warfare Center's Carderock Division to provide engineering and technical support services for the Navy's Large Cavitation Channel in Memphis, Tenn. The channel is the Navy's principal test facility for hydro-dynamic and hydroacoustic testing of ship hull forms and propulsors.

Motorola Space Systems and Technology Group has been awarded a $47 million order for the digital modular radio (DMR), an advanced software-reprogrammable ultra-high/very high frequency radio for use on Navy ships and submarines and at some shore installations.