Karen Walker
Hitching a ride on a Boeing C-17, the Boeing Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche scout/attack helicopter has arrived at Farnborough to make its worldwide airshow debut.
The Comanche prototype 2 will be on static display throughout the show. It is the first time the aircraft has been taken outside of the US, giving Boeing Sikorsky an opportunity to highlight its potential for overseas sales.
The manufacturer is emphasising that stealth technology is what sets this helicopter apart.
"This is the first real stealth helicopter," says Arthur Linden, Boeing Sikorsky Comanche programme director. "The low observable features combined with the sensor suite power on board the airplane allows you to see without being seen.
"That is a tremendous advantage on the battlefield. It's true stealth," he says.
The other key feature of the Comanche, adds Linden, is its ability to collect and distribute information digitally.
The aircraft on display will serve as the mission equipment package (MEP) validation aircraft, beginning its flight programme in 1999 at Sikorsky's West Palm Beach, Florida, facility. The first prototype has logged more than 105h, flown at forward speeds of 204kt(380km/h) and reached bank angles of 60°.
In August the Comanche programme was restructured to align development with US Army plans to demonstrate "digitisation" of the battlefield. Under the new plan, six pre-production prototype (PPP) aircraft - each MEP equipped - will be delivered in 2003 in time for a major combat exercise to prove the digitisation concept.
"We are proud of what we have already accomplished," says Linden. "We have got to the maximum speed, tested manoeuvrability and the flight envelope.
"It's faster than anything the US military has in production now, the systems are working well and the whole aircraft is performing flawlessly. It really just leaves mundane testing and fine tuning to do."
Linden says the company expects to have 14 aircraft flying by 2003 to meet an initial operational capability date of 2006. The projected cost of those 14 helicopters will be $14.8 million apiece.
Export potential is an "absolute given", says Linden. "We are still quite early in that process, but you could logically say that the airplane would be made available to allies.
"After all, this is going to be the next generation of technology after aircraft that are in production now."
Linden admits to some "frustrations" from a manufacturer's standpoint that Comanche development, because of US Department of Defence budget constraints, has become a drawn-out process.
"Typically, this is the sort of programme that would be prolonged by technology problems, but we have not had those. But we have been going in slow motion for the last two years because of the funding process.
"There will, however, be a substantial increase in the budget in 1999 and we have got to the point where we have built up a critical mass, so we are confident now.
"The Army is very pleased with the aircraft and the way it performs. They are very pleased that the Comanche fits so well into their 21st century plans.
"This is the helicopter that will win the war with technology - not bodies."
Source: Flight Daily News
