Bell Helicopter is displaying the upgraded cockpit of the AH-1Z Zulu Cobra attack helicopter in Singapore for the first time.
The demonstrator on the Bell stand (Hall A/333) is designed to highlight the improved subsystems which provide the backbone of the programme to transform the US Marine Corps' AH-1W Cobra fleet into AH-1Zs.
The AH-1Z features identical front and back cockpits which allow the pilot to use either seating position, side-arm controllers instead of a cyclic, an all-glass cockpit and significantly reduced pilot workload.
The H-1 upgrade programme, which also involves the improvement of 100 UH-1N aircraft to the new UH-1Y standard, will see far more commonality between the two types on completion. The aircraft are being engineered with 84% of parts identical.
"These are the maintenance intensive parts too," says Gary Simpson, director of military business development. "The engines, four-blade all composite rotor system, the drive trains and the cockpit avionics - all these things will be identical. And that is where the reduced life cycle costs really come into play."
The aircraft also features the Lockheed Martin Target Sighting System (TSS) and has added the Longbow millimetre wave radar to its armoury.
The H-1 programme is progressing, but has faced numerous delays, the most serious being the delayed development of the Northrop Grumman (previously Litton) integrated avionics system. The USMC now believes the most pressing issues have been addressed and is awaiting approval from the US Department of Defense for a new baseline schedule.
Source: Flight Daily News