JUSTIN WASTNAGE / LONDON
The German army aviation corps is to undertake an airframe and engine lifetime extension programme on its Sikorsky CH-53Ghelicopters. Eurocopter Germany has also been awarded a c14 million ($16 million) contract to prototype a glass cockpit for the CH-53G to provide fleet commonality with the army's NH IndustriesNH90 tactical transport helicopter.
Col Wolfgang Raschke, the German army's head of rotorcraft procurement, says the 96 CH-53Gs will be reduced to 80 with the arrival of the NH90 and Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopters from 2005.
The CH-53G's airframe fatigue limitation is 6,000h and some machines will reach this in 2005-6. A study into extending the structural life until 2030 is advanced, says Raschke.
The German army has completed tests with MTU on modernising the aircraft's three 4,750shp (3,540kW) General Electric T64-416 turboshafts, aimed at regaining the 25% loss in power caused by the aircraft's 30 years of service, says Raschke.
The German army's recent peacekeeping missions, with high-altitude sorties in extreme temperatures, also hastened the engine's overhaul cycle.
"In Afghanistan we reduced the time between engine overhauls from 2,400h to 100h," he says, "based on experience we had with sand corrosion during the United Nations weapons inspectors' flights in Iraq from 1991-6."
Although each upgrade requires separate funding approval from the German parliament, Raschke is confident costs san be saved by running the programmes concurrently. The upgrade should takes even years, with each aircraft in a hangar for about four months. The German army has only "around half" of its CH-53G fleet operational because of a spare parts shortage for modifications to the main drive shaft mandated after the type's grounding following a fatal crash in December 2002 in Afghanistan. The full fleet should be airworthy again within four months, says Raschke.
Source: Flight International
