Upgrade Program Will Give New Lease of Life to British Navy's
Merlins
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded Lockheed Martin
UK a two-year study contract to pave the way for a proposed major
upgrade program for the Royal Navy's fleet of Merlin HM.Mk 1 shipboard
helicopters.
This future Merlin Capability Sustainment Plus Program (Merlin
CSP) would involve AgustaWestland helicopters (builders of the
aircraft) and Lockheed Martin, which was the overall Merlin program
manager for the UK MoD. The Merlin (AgustaWestland EH101) entered
British service in 1999 as a Sea King replacement, but thanks
to its lengthy development history the aircraft is already facing
systems obsolescence issues. The Navy is keen to improve and enhance
the helicopter's onboard systems, and also to expand its weapons
capability to make it more operationally flexible. Currently the
Merlin operates in a dedicated anti-submarine role.
The Merlin study will investigate the cost-saving potential of
replacing existing Merlin systems with commercial off-the-shelf
(COTS) equipment and introducing open-system computer architecture
to smooth the path of any future upgrades. The assessment phase
of the Merlin CSP is valued at £18 million. The precise
scope of all and any future upgrades will be examined-along with
all aspects of the helicopter, its ground support and infrastructure-before
the full CSP is launched.
The naval Merlin is in service with the Royal Navy and Italian
Navy. The UK has taken delivery of all 44 aircraft it had on order
and final deliveries to the Italian customer are now underway.
Three of the British aircraft were deployed to the Gulf in March/April
to support combat operations against Iraq.
