THE US DEPARTMENT of Defense (DoD) has approved a US Army plan for the Boeing Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche scout/attack helicopter which calls for two prototypes, six "early operational capability" (EOC) aircraft, and entry into service in 2007.
The restructured programme is the Army's response to the DoD's December 1994 decision to defer a decision on production of the RAH-66 until after FY2001. Under the agreed plan, a decision on low-rate initial production will be taken in 2003, the previous service-entry date for the Comanche.
The plan will also achieve more within the existing budget by deferring certain development tasks to later in the programme, says US Army RAH-66 programme manager Gen. James Snider. The six EOC aircraft will be unarmed and will have the reconnaissance mission-equipment package (MEP) only.
The EOC Comanches will be delivered to a specially formed and trained Army unit in about 2001, for two years of early field trials. The aircraft will then be upgraded, armed and delivered, with the first two production Comanches, to form the first operational unit in 2007, Snider says.
Boeing Sikorsky will roll out the first YRAH-66 prototype on 25 May and fly the aircraft in November. The second prototype, with a baseline MEP installed, will be flown in 1996. The prototypes and EOC aircraft will have undergone a 6,500h development flight-test programme by 2006, Snider says.
Approval for the restructured programme has resulted in the release of $120 million of 1995 funding, which was withheld when the DoD deferred a production decision beyond 2001. Without the money, Boeing Sikorsky would have had to begin, closing down the programme and laying off 2,350 people.
Only $200 million is requested for 1996, "...which was always going to be a difficult year", Boeing Sikorsky admits. The Army says that the programme, as structured, can be accelerated if Congress adds money to the budget.
Field tests of the EOC aircraft will "wring out" the reconnaissance MEP, which will include all the "unique, high-pay-off, features" of the Comanche - second-generation forward-looking infra-red, fibre-optic databus and integrated communication/navigation - Snider says.
The MEP will then be upgraded with more-powerful processors, and the armament integrated, before service-entry. The Longbow fire-control radar, and advanced radar and infrared jammers will be introduced in later Comanche production batches, he says.
Source: Flight International
