By Ann Roosevelt
Nine months after first announcing the project, EADS North America said it has flown the second of three company-funded Armed Aerial Scout 72X Technical Demonstration Aircraft (TDA).
The 40-minute flight took place Dec. 7 at the company’s American Eurocopter facility in Grand Prairie, Texas.
“This is a significant milestone for our industry team as we further demonstrate the capabilities of our aircraft and its ability to meet the Army’s warfighting requirement,” said Sean O’Keefe, CEO of EADS North America. “We’re pleased with our progress to date and remain fully committed to developing and demonstrating a solution for the Armed Aerial Scout mission.”
The Army requirement for an armed aerial scout aircraft remains unfilled and an analysis of alternatives is being conducted. The service was not satisfied with the results of a sources-sought effort (Defense Daily, Oct. 9).
Prior armed scout efforts have not fared well such as the cancellation of what was called a cold war relic–the Bell Helicopter Textron [TXT]- Boeing [BA] RAH-66 Comanche helicopter. The Bell Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter program then fell victim to cost and schedule concerns.
Consequently, the Army has been upgrading the highly successful, but aging Bell OH-58 Kiowa Warrior reconnaissance/attack helicopter. The Kiowa Warrior has been in service since 1991, though earlier versions date back to 1969.
The objective of the Dec. 7 flight was to demonstrate integrated targeting sensor, manned/unmanned teaming (MUM-T) and communications and navigation capabilities.
Subsequent test flights will demonstrate additional capabilities required to meet the Army’s current Armed Aerial Scout mission requirements.
The EADS North America-led industry team, comprised of Lockheed Martin [LMT] EADS’ Eurocopter and American Eurocopter, an EADS North America operating unit, is developing three AAS-72X aircraft to demonstrate the total capability of the aircraft with a fully-integrated Mission Equipment Package (MEP). EADS NA first discussed this next step in the development of the Light Utility Helicopter UH-72A Lakota April 15 (Defense Daily, April 16). The AAS-72X is derived from the same family of aircraft as the UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopter, offering a low-risk evolution of the Army’s newest rotary-wing aircraft. The AAS-72X combines twin-engine safety and the high and hot operating performance critical to the Army’s armed scout mission.
The first TDA aircraft has been in use to demonstrate anticipated AAS-72X requirements for the Army’s Armed Aerial Scout mission. This includes a July 2009 series of successful high/hot test flights that achieved all test objectives including hover-out-of-ground-effect and flight endurance with a 2,300-pound simulated MEP, and a transportability demonstration of five helicopters on a C-17 transport aircraft.
Since that time, other advancements on the program include the development of the MEP Systems Integration Laboratory at Lockheed Martin’s Orlando, Fla., facility.
“Lockheed Martin’s considerable progress in maturing the state-of-the-art AAS MEP demonstrates our commitment to providing a best-value, superior solution to meet the warfighters’ armed scout need,” said Bob Gunning, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control vice president of fire control programs. “We are leveraging our expertise from other combat-proven rotary- and fixed-wing programs to develop the lowest risk MEP. This first flight marks a significant achievement on our path towards flying a production prototype.”
President and CEO of American Eurocopter Marc Paganini said: “[The] event proves our commitment to this project in terms of our financial investment and emphasizes our enhanced engineering capability to serve our U.S. Army customer. This is yet another example of delivering on our promise.”
Production of the AAS-72X would take place at the Columbus, Miss., helicopter center of excellence operated by American Eurocopter, where the UH-72A currently is assembled for the Army. EADS NA has delivered 146 UH-72As on time and within budget, including five to the Navy.