Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC
THE UK AND US Governments are discussing a joint procurement programme covering the Bell AH-1 attack helicopter, in the run-up to a decision by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) on its attack-helicopter requirement.
Flight International has obtained details of a 3 May letter from Nora Slatkin (until earlier this month the US Navy's civilian research-and-development chief) to Roger Freeman, the UK's Minister for Defence Procurement, discussing a possible joint programme involving the British Army Air Corps (AAC) and the US Marine Corps. Slatkin has since moved to a senior position at the Central Intelligence Agency.
Following discussions with David Hughes, the UK MoD's director for helicopter projects, Slatkin wrote to Freeman, saying: "In response to his [Hughes] query, I believe there is good potential for US/UK collaboration on the AH-1W."
Earlier this month, the USMC delayed a decision on a cockpit upgrade on several hundred of its AH-1Ws. There is now increasing speculation that a decision on the upgrade of the integrated weapons system was pushed back to allow the UK to make a decision on its attack helicopter. The reason publicly given for the delay was to allow the USMC to re-evaluate its requirements.
The MoD is aiming to announce its choice by early July between the GEC/Bell Cobra Venom, the Westland/ McDonnell Douglas AH-64D Apache and the British Aerospace/ Eurocopter Tiger.
Slatkin writes that, if the UK chooses the Venom, then: "I suggest that we immediately enter into negotiations to determine the type and scope of collaborative programme we could establish."
The USMC wants to upgrade the AH-1W's cockpit, while also replacing the helicopter's twin-bladed rotor with a four-bladed system.
Although the GEC bid in the UK is based on a twin-bladed Venom, it submitted a supplementary bid based on the improved performance four-bladed vehicle in October 1994, and floated the idea of a joint UK/US programme, with its funding and performance attractions (Flight International, 19-25 October, 1994).
Senior USMC programme officials, visited the UK on 15 May, to discuss further a joint programme. GEC officials confirm that the visit had taken place, although they say that the USMC programme officers visited only the MoD.
A four-bladed programme for the Bell UH-1N is already under way in the USA, and the Cobra Venom and AH-1W programmes could be incorporated into this. The cockpit upgrade for the USMC AH-1Ws would be based round GEC's Venom cockpit.
The GEC/Bell bid has been based on providing a helicopter with almost the combat capability of the Apache, but at considerably less cost. There are indications that GEC's twin-bladed bid is some £750 million less than that of Westland or British Aerospace.
The AAC requirement is nominally built around a purchase of 91 helicopters, although if the Venom were to be selected, the MoD could purchase as many as 130 attack helicopters for the price of rival bids, say industry sources.
The final decision on the attack helicopter will be taken at UK Cabinet level. The MoD's Equipment Acquisition Committee is expected to meet by the middle of June to discuss the procurement before the decision is finalised at ministerial level.
Source: Flight International
