RAH-66 Comanche EMD Forges Ahead

The Boeing Sikorsky team behind the U.S. Army's RAH-66 Comanche advanced combat helicopter is pushing ahead with the next phase of its EMD (engineering manufacturing and development) plan, designing and building the tools it needs to assemble the development batch of 13 aircraft.

The first EMD Comanche is scheduled for delivery to Sikorsky's flight test facility at West Palm Beach in early 2004, while the U.S. Army hopes to take delivery of its first EMD Comanche in the second quarter of 2005. The Army's full complement of EMD aircraft will be devoted to IOTE (initial operating, test and evaluation) flying.

Since the initial demonstration/validation phase of the 1990s, Sikorsky has adopted a more refined system of digital design and manufacturing techniques, using a CATIA 3-D design system. Joe Amico, Sikorsky's Comanche Program Operations Director, described the benefits of the new system, saying "We weren't completely linked up to the same digital environment as Engineering during dem/val. Now we are. CATIA is the hub nowadays and we use the same day as Engineering. This translates into improved accuracy, 'producability' and reduced flow times."

The two Comanche prototypes have now completed over 400 hours of flight time. The No. 2 aircraft has already been modified to carry a redesigned radome for its mast-mounted Longbow radar. It is now being fitted with the EMD-configured Comanche mission equipment package for flight test development, and will be back in the air by December 2001.

The No. 1 Comanche prototype has been fitted with a re-configurable tail to allow the collection of some final flight test data. This aircraft is also being equipped with more powerful T801 engines, an alternative pylon design, the new radome and the latest rotor and tail configuration with anhedral blade tips.

The US Army's recent Aviation Modernization Plan re-affirmed Army Aviation's faith in the RAH-66 and the Army still hopes to take delivery of 1,213 aircraft by 2026. Under current plans the Comanche will achieve its initial operating capability in 2006.