Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC
The US Marine Corps' Bell AH-1Z/UH-1Y helicopter upgrade programme is picking up momentum with assembly of the first prototype airframe beginning this month. Twelve months of drive system bench testing will follow, starting in May.
To date, 85% of drawings have been released and design work will be completed by the end of the year. Four AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters have already been delivered to Bell and stripped in readiness for modification to AH-1Z test vehicles. Three of the machines will be used for flight testing, along with two of the four UH-1N utility helicopters supporting the -1Y upgrade.
The first tandem-seat AH-1Z is scheduled to fly in October 2000, according to Bell manager Pat Rever. It will be used primarily to flight test the H-1's new composite, four-blade hingeless and bearingless main rotor, four blade composite tail rotor, gearboxes and uprated transmission. It will be joined a month later by the first modified UH-1Y.
The two other flying AH-1Z prototypes, together with the UH-IYs, will be fitted with the new Litton integrated avionic system cockpit, which will be common to both attack and utility types. It will include hands-on-cyclic-and-collective controls, colour multi-function displays and integrated helmet display.
In place of the improved Israeli Tamam night targeting system (NTS-A) originally selected for the AH-1Z, the tandem-seat machine will be fitted with Lockheed Martin's target sight system (TTS). Bell claims the new mid-wave forward looking infra-red/colour TV offers superior range to either the NTS-A or the Lockheed Martin target acquisition and detection system on the rival Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter.
TSS provides 120¼ of azimuth and +45/-110¼ of elevation line of sight and is able to fully exploit the 13 km (8nm) stand-off range of the Boeing AGM-114 Hellfire anti-tank missile. The helicopter's two- sided weapon pylons will be strengthened for two additional hardpoints, giving six in total.
Flight testing will be concluded by mid-2003, followed shortly after by delivery of the first five of 100 planned UH-IYs. Deliveries will run at 12 a year through to 2012, when the final 11 will be completed, though there is some discussion about accelerating this. Deliveries of 180 AH-1Zs will start with five in 2005, increasing to 24 a year from 2007 and finishing with 19 in 2013.
Source: Flight International
