The US Coast Guard has come out in strong support of the selection of the Bell HV-911 Eagle Eye for the vertical take-off and landing unmanned air vehicle (VUAV) element of the Deepwater re-equipment programme, as proposed by the Northrop Grumman/Lockheed Martin Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS) consortium. The selection was heavily criticised by losing contender Schweizer Aircraft (Flight International, 18-24 February).
Despite Schweizer's claims that the Eagle Eye was selected over the Schweizer 333-based Northrop Grumman RQ-8A Fire Scout without a fair competition, the USCG counters that candidates were judged on cost of ownership, technical, logistical and management considerations. "There was a score and at the end there was a solution and it was Eagle Eye," says Lt Cdr Troy Bashear, USCG UAV platform manager.
The USCG conducted its evaluation of the competitors and gave the Bell tiltrotor UAV a higher score than ICGS did. This was also done after the Fire Scout team had submitted a second bid with "dramatically" lower pricing. Other unsuccessful VTUV players included the Bombardier CL-327 Guardian, SAIC Vigilante and Sikorsky Mariner.
"For us, it's a matter of capability," says Bashear. The HV-911 offers a higher speed - 220kt (410km/h) versus the RQ-8A's 120kt - and can search a larger area and offers better performance at higher altitude where it needs to be to transmit data. The Deepwater VUAV was based on the US Navy's VTUAV requirement for a 200km (110nm) range and 3h endurance for which the RQ-8A was selected, but Bashear says: "If I've something that is 100kt faster, it's worth looking at."
Another consideration was deck handling qualities. The small USCG cutters mean a sea state requirement of 5-8, higher than the USN needs. The HV-211 has a four point landing gearand a lower centre of gravity compared to the skid-equipped RQ-8A.
Source: Flight International
