An initial evaluation of a Longbow radar installation for the Bell AH-1 Super Cobra indicates it is possible to integrate the radar with other sensors on the attack helicopter.
Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin - partner with Northrop Grumman in radar manufacturer Longbow International - is proposing an upgrade for older, single-engined Cobras that integrates the radar and the company's AGM-114Hellfire missile and Target Sight System (TSS).
Bell displayed a Longbow installation mock-up for the first time at last month's Asian Aerospace. The radar and associated systems are wingtip-mounted. The installation weighs around 90kg (200lb) - about the same as the already-cleared Raytheon AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile and launch rail.
Bell says the Cobra Radar System will be "quick-change", allowing it to be swapped between machines, and installed on either the port or starboard wing.
Bell says pre-design work has proved that the mounting will work, and that a concept of operations has been defined. It adds that AH-1Z-upgrade avionics integrator Northrop Grumman has indicated that the radar can be integrated to allow targets to be handed off to the TSS for visual identification.
The Longbow installation is being offered to Taiwan, which is seeking either new attack helicopters or upgrades for its fleet of 60 AH-1W SuperCobras. Bell hopes to sway the country to take theAH-1Z upgrade developed for the US Marine Corps. A Taiwanese Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow deal was blocked by Washington last year, but the US State Department is due to receive a report within a month assessing the situation in the region, which could tip the balance in favour of a deal.
Lockheed Martin says South Korea could be offered the radar as part of a potential upgrade of its single-engined Cobra fleet. Any modification programme, however, is likely to be dependent on the future of the army's AH-X competition, which is dormant, having lost its funding recently. Bahrain and Jordan have also been targeted for single-engined AH-1 upgrades.
Source: Flight International
