Military helicopters
The past two years could hardly be described as "vintage" for European military-helicopter programmes, with Eurocopter (chalet 156B/B) having to battle with politicians for orders for its Tiger attack and NH90 naval/tactical helicopters, and GKN Westland (2C/15) and Agusta (external 38) having to grapple with prototype-losses on the EH101 naval/tactical helicopter programme.
Manufacturers will be hoping that these setbacks are behind them, and there are signs that progress is again being made. Despite the reduction in defence expenditure in most countries, there are military-helicopter requirements to be addressed, and key production decisions on the Tiger and NH90 could be announced at Le Bourget. Furthermore, Sweden and Turkey have outstanding attack-helicopter requirements, with European, Russian and US manufacturers all battling for increasingly important export market-share.
Eurocopter is still looking for its first Tiger export sale, and is up against McDonnell Douglas (MDC) (H10/H), which is keen to maintain its dominance. The Netherlands has taken MDC AH-64A Apaches until the first of its D-model aircraft become available, while the British Army is looking forward to the first deliveries of WAH-64D Longbow Apaches.
Despite its problems with the EH101, Westland has secured the WAH-64 order, and more sales of its Merlin for the Royal Air Force's medium-lift role. The company will, however, be looking to regain lost ground against Kaman's SH-2G Super Seasprite, selected by Australia and New Zealand. The company had been hoping to launch its Super Lynx family on the back of Australian and New Zealand orders.
Russian manufacturers Kamov (5D/2) and Mil will also be in attendance at the show. Both companies are continuing to develop all-weather variants of their basic Ka-50 Hokum and Mi-28 Havoc attack helicopters, respectively, to replace Russian armed forces' Mil Mi-24 Hinds when, and if, funds are made available.
Both Russian manufacturers have also turned to French avionics houses to provide Western-standard cockpits for export variants of the Hokum and Havoc. The two-seat Ka-52 and KA-50N, as well as the Mi-28N, all have French avionics on board. India appears to be the main initial export target.
The Bell-Boeing (Chalet 73/A) V-22 tilt-rotor team will be looking to further interest Europe, as will Sikorsky (Chalet 81/A) with its S-92. Emerging European opportunities for the V-22 include the Royal Navy's future airborne early-warning requirement, and also its replacement for the Westland Commando utility helicopter.
Boeing and Sikorsky will also be quizzed about the future of their RAH-66 Comanche armed scout helicopter. Some within the military-helicopter community are sceptical that the Comanche will ever enter service.
In Eastern Europe, programmes under way in Poland and Romania will be of interest. Romania is working toward licence-production of a variant of the Bell AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopter, complete with an Israeli-built Elbit avionics suite. In Poland, there is a a continuing competition to provide the avionics, sensor and weapons for an armed-support version of the PZL W-3 helicopter.
Rafael may give its NT-D fibre-optic-guided anti-tank missile its premiere at the show. This missile, the helicopter-launched variant of which is in development for the Israeli armed forces, is in competition with the Boeing (3/C2 Chalet 296C/C) Hellfire (formerly Rockwell) and the GEC-Marconi Brimstone for the Polish requirement.
In terms of potential export markets, Malaysia will also be on the agenda for two of the show attendees. Westland will be keen to stop its run of losses in the Asia-Pacific region by securing the sale of a shipborne Lynx variant to the country. South African helicopter manufacturer Denel (2/F15) will also be keen to finalise the sale of its CSH-2 Rooivalk to Malaysia by the end of 1997. This would be the first export sale of this attack helicopter.
Several exhibitors at Le Bourget will be keeping a keen eye on Portugal, which has a search-and-rescue (SAR) procurement requirement, which may develop into a fully fledged military programme. In a similar vein, Canada's prolonged SAR requirement - the result of its EH101 order cancellation - continues to attract interest. This programme may develop into a full maritime-helicopter requirement, as envisaged in the original EH101 procurement.
As with all other defence aerospace sectors, at an industrial level there will be interest in company consolidations, although the speed of these does not match the dramatic pace of those among fixed-wing or weapons-system manufacturers in the USA. The merging of MDC into Boeing, if it goes ahead, will remove one manufacturer from an oversubscribed market, while in Europe, Agusta and GKN Westland appear to be moving slowly closer together.
Civil Helicopters
As the civil-helicopter business continues to make a strong recovery after the dark days of the early 1990s, manufacturers will be mounting a major effort at the Paris air show, with the latest hardware on display from Eurocopter, Agusta, Bell Helicopter Textron, Enstrom and Robinson. At the smaller end of the market, Enstrom's 280FX and 480 models will be on display, while Robinson's French distributor, Magnum Aviation, will be exhibiting the US company's two-seat R22 and four-seat R44 in the outside park.
Probably one of the more intriguing sights at the 1997 show will be the Bell-Boeing Model 609 civil tilt-rotor, albeit in mock-up form. This nine-seat aircraft, which was launched in November 1996, is designed to be a successor to the 412 helicopter in Bell's line-up, and to replace the rival Sikorsky S-76 and turboprops such as the Raytheon Beech King Air. The twin Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6-powered 609 will be able to reach cruise speeds of up to 275kt (510km/h), and be operated at altitudes of 25,000ft (7,600m).
Bell-Boeing has forecast a market for around 1,000 of the $8-10 million tilt-rotors over the next 20 years. The first 609 is scheduled to be flown in mid-1999, with customer deliveries commencing in early 2001.
Bell (8/H) is planning to have examples of five helicopter types on display, including the Models 412, 407, 430, 206B JetRanger and 206L LongRanger. While the single-engined 407 and 430 twin are making their first appearances at Paris, the company should also provide an update on its new Model 427. This twin-engined, stretched development of the 407, which Bell is producing in conjunction with Samsung, is scheduled for certification in 1998.
Eurocopter (chalet 156B/B), which had a limited presence in 1996 at the Farnborough air show, is exhibiting examples of all its current product-line at Paris. The Franco-German consortium is beginning to benefit from the hardening civil-helicopter market with increasing sales. Air-ambulance and VIP-configured examples of the twin-engined EC135 will be on display, while the single-engined EC120, which is being developed in conjunction with Singapore Aerospace and China National Aero-Technology Import and Export, is having its Paris debut. Deliveries of the EC135 began in 1996, while testing of the EC120 is moving towards certification and first deliveries early in 1998. A BK117 will also be on display.
Agusta's expanded product line now includes new single- and twin-engined helicopters, in the form of the A119 Koala and A109 Power, respectively. The Power, which is the latest derivative of the long-running A109, was unveiled at Paris two years ago. The new model is a major update, including new avionics and P&WC PW206 engines, and was certificated in 1996. The lightweight Koala, which had its public debut at Paris in 1995, is scheduled for first customer deliveries this year.
Although both McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems (MDHS) (H10/H) and Sikorsky are both attending Paris, their participation seems to be limited to stands in the exhibitor halls, with no civil hardware expected to be present. MDHS, which recently received US Federal Aviation Administration certification of the model MD600N after a lengthy delay because of problems during the flight-test programme, has suffered a further setback with the temporary grounding of the MD Explorer because of control-link failures. Meanwhile, Sikorsky's 19-seat S-92C Helibus is scheduled to have its first flight in the first half of 1998, and the manufacturer seems to be waiting to clear this hurdle before increasing the marketing tempo for this large helicopter.
Although the focus at the moment for EH Industries is the completion of the test-programme for the military versions of the EH101, the consortium is still promoting a civil Heliliner version. Partners Agusta and GKN Westland have formed a common structure with which to market the commercial version.
From a technology point of view, the use of the Future Air Navigation System (FANS) in the rotary-wing industry is becoming increasingly important for navigation, communications, surveillance and collision avoidance. The use of global-positioning system for emergency-medical-service flights in the USA has been under way now since mid-1994, saving the lives of patients by avoiding lengthy diversions, or road transfers.
In North Sea operations, Helikopter Service has been testing a modified automatic dependent surveillance (M-ADS) system which enables air-traffic control (ATC) to pinpoint a helicopter's position, via a satellite link, in a region where little or no radar and VHF radio coverage is available. This system is to be adopted by the Norwegians for positive ATC from 1999. The M-ADS can also be used to pass on health and usage monitoring data in real time to an operator's base from even the most remote regions of the world.
Source: Flight International
