Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC
KUWAIT IS EXPECTED to complete the purchase of an armed version of the Sikorsky Aircraft UH-60L helicopter within the next several months, say industry officials.
In 1994, the Pentagon offered Kuwait 16 McDonnell Douglas Helicopters AH-64A Apache gun-ships, plus 500 Hellfire laser-designated-anti-tank missiles and other related military hardware, worth an estimated $700 million.
Kuwait turned down the first-generation Apache gun-ship, and the Pentagon declined to provide Kuwait with the more-advanced AH-64D Longbow Apache. The USA then changed its offer to 16 UH-60Ls, 500Hellfire missiles and 38 Hellfire launchers worth $461 million.
The foreign military sale was held up because of Pentagon reluctance to provide Kuwait with Hughes Aircraft's Airborne Electro-optical Special Operations Payload (AESOP) - the forward-looking infra-red (FLIR)/laser designator used on the US Army's heavily armed MH-60 DAP (defensive armed penetration) helicopter. The concern related to Kuwait's proximity to Iraq and the chance that the technology might be compromised.
A compromise was hatched, and the Pentagon offered a less-sophisticated FLIR/laser designator, which Kuwait accepted. It is believed that a unit, being developed by FLIR Systems, using commercially available components, will be made available to Kuwait.
Kuwait agreed in March to buy the specially configured Black Hawk without the sophisticated combined FLIR/laser designator package used on the armed Black Hawk of the US Army's 160th Special Operations Air Regiment.
Budget considerations caused delays, but Kuwait is now moving forward with the deal, say industry officials. The gun-ship's configuration may change somewhat, and agreement is now anticipated in October or November.
The MH-60 DAP is armed with Hellfire missiles, mini-guns, 30mm cannons, rocket pods and Mk9 40mm grenade launchers. The US Army will not say how many MH-60 DAPs are flying, but Flight International has learned that about one dozen are operational.
Source: Flight International
