The competition to win a US Army order for 368 armed reconnaissance helicopters will come into sharp focus this week in Paris as the two contenders, Bell Helicopter and Boeing, make the case for their aircraft ahead of a selection decision in August.
The original contract award was due to be made this month, but has been delayed to allow fine tuning of the contract requirements. The first aircraft are scheduled to be delivered next year, with a phased programme through to 2011.
Bell has a full scale mock-up of its ARH on display in Paris. The aircraft is a derivative of the single-engine Bell 407, powered by the Honeywell HTS900 engine and equipped with a dual channel, full authority digital engine control system.
Partners
Bell is teamed with a number of partners to supply the aircraft's mission equipment package, including Lockheed Martin, Rockwell Collins, FLIR Systems, L-3, Flight Safety and Computer Sciences.
Responding to the army's requirements on deployment, Bell says that two ARHs can be deployed aboard a Lockheed Martin C-130 and be unloaded, flyable and ready to fight within 15min.
The Boeing-led team is offering a helicopter based on the MD Helicopters-built AH/MH-6 Little Bird. The aircraft will be powered by a Rolls-Royce engine and could be equipped with the Raytheon ZSQ-2 targeting sensor. The team also involves BAE Systems and simulator supplier CAE.
Source: Flight Daily News
