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| With new AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters being delivered to the
U.S. Army, some ask why the Comanche is needed at all. "The Apache is 20 years old, and you will never make it low observable," Art Linden, director of the joint program office for Comanche and a vice president of Sikorsky Helicopter, told Show News. "And you will never make it anything like the Comanche for integrated architecture, maintainability, and low support cost." Comanche was designed from scratch as an integrated electronic computerized aircraft, capable of interfacing with, and adding to, information from such as JSTARS aircraft to give a complete picture of the battlefield. "It can recce a battlefield and the enemy never knows we're there," said Linden. Its integrated systems make it easy to modify and upgrade to take advantage of the latest emerging technology-as opposed to bolting aftermarket add-ons all over the Apache. "For example, we've made three upgrades of our computer processor chips so far," Linden said. "When the program started, Pentium chips didn't exist." Early production Comanches are expected to start emerging in 2003, with fully-capable digital aircraft in 2004. |
So stealthy is the Comanche attack helicopter program that many wonder if it still exists and just cannot be seen. But it is, in fact, alive and well, and the second prototype helicopter is appearing here at Farnborough to prove it.
"The Department of Defense wants to show the world the overall state of the art in technology in the U.S.," Art Linden, director of the joint program office for Comanche and a vice president of Sikorsky Helicopter, told Show News. "And some say it is not too early to start talking exports."
Those could be particularly important if the Comanche is to continue to evade U.S. budget cuts and program stretch-outs, yet still keep the price at $14.1 million per ship in 1996 dollars, assuming the U.S. military buys 1,292 at the rate of 72 per year.
Some think the Comanche has survived politically so far by keeping a low profile, but in reality, much progress has been made, albeit in fits and starts. "You haven't heard much about it flying," Linden admitted, "for several reasons." Among them: much of the systems development work has been conducted on ground-based "iron birds." The fifth force that acts on an aircraft in flight (the five are thrust, drag, lift, gravity-and money) has been lacking, and managers have been very protective of their only flying prototype.
"I can't think of any other program where there was only one test aircraft," said Linden. "The flaw here is that if you have any technical concern, you park the airplane." For example, the Comanche lurked for five weeks in its hangar earlier this year after its flight control system made an unexpected command to the secondary auxiliary power unit. The problem: just a faulty electrical connector.
"Luckily, because of the systems testing, we don't need the number of test flight hours we needed before," Linden said.
The Comanche has now flown 100 hours on the first prototype since first flight in January 1996. "Some would say that doesn't look very impressive, but remember, there is only one aircraft," Linden remarked. In that time the helicopter has overcome a gearbox bearing failure to fly faster forwards, backwards and sideways than anything in Army inventory. A need to sharpen tail responsiveness is being fixed by adding vertical area and cleaning up the shape of the main rotor pylon.
Although Comanche is a breakthrough in airframe design, "We have said all along the true breakthrough is in avionics, electronics, sensors and weapons," said Linden. "We are spending a great deal of time, and over half the money we have, on the mission equipment package. People don't see a lot of that." This year represents a valley for funding, but the cash spigot will flow again next year and the pace will pick up, he said.
By John Morris
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