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formerly Future Amphibious Support Helicopter (FASH)
(Archived January 2005.
Requirement became part of the Future Rotorcraft Capability programme)
Notes: Project designation: ? Description Studies in to what was then termed the Future Amphibious Support Helicopter (FASH) first began in the mid-1990’s, with a formal staff requirement expected to be approved in 1999 for an entry in to service by 2006. The Strategic Defence Review of 1998 merged FASH in to a new joint service requirement. The Support Amphibious and Battlefield Rotorcraft (SABR) project will provide the UK’s future medium/heavy amphibious and battlefield helicopter lift capability, along with the existing Chinook Mks 2 and 2a and Merlin Mk 3 helicopters. It will replace and enhance the capability currently provided by the Puma Mk 1 and Sea King Mk4 helicopters. The SABR project is split in two parts, the main helicopter lift element, and second Search and Rescue (SAR) element. SABR (Main) will be required to deploy 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde) Royal Marine forces in support of Littoral Manoeuvre operations, and be optimised for sustained operations at sea. It will also contribute to 16 Air Assault Brigade (16 AAB) Air Manoeuvre capability. Full account of the existing RAF Chinook and Merlin rotorcraft will be taken to ensure that the capability is provided in the most cost-effective manner. Support Helicopters are playing an increasingly prominent role in UK operations (for example, their recent extensive deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq) and represent a substantial part of our commitment to Rapid Reaction forces. In recent times they have also been used in support of humanitarian relief efforts around the world. There are a number of driving requirements that may influence the SABR solution: a. Lift requirements and degree of simultaneous operation required; The In-Service Date (ISD) is currently forecast to be achieved early next decade. Initial operational analysis suggests that up to around 70 aircraft, additional to the Chinook and Merlin helicopters currently in service, may be required to deliver the SABR (Main) capability. This number will be further refined during the SABR Assessment Phase.
The estimated Development & Manufacture cost of the SABR programme is up to some £6.5bn. The SABR Integrated Project Team (IPT) was formed in late 1999. The IPT manages both SABR and SAR (Search And Rescue). The SABR project is currently in the Concept Phase; progression to the next phase of the project (the so-called Assessment Phase) was scheduled for Spring 2004 but is now forecast for autumn 2004 and seems likely to slip in to early 2005. The Assessment Phase will aim to reduce risk and uncertainty prior to committing to manufacture (Main Gate) in 2007 or 2008. It is expected that the main SABR requirement has been spit in to two aircraft procurements: "SABR-heavy" and "SABR-light" (actually medium lift!). SABR-SAR would form a third. The exact mix was never clear, although the RAF has a bias towards predominately heavy, and the Army and Royal Marines towards mostly light. For SABR heavy the de facto solution appears to be the Boeing Chinook CH-47. It had been expected that any Chinook's purchased for SABR would be "marinised" with features such as a folding rotor system, however this may be dropped on cost grounds, the argument being that the Royal Navy has managed for over ten years to operate non-marinised Chinook at sea, so the need is clearly not that essential. An outside alternative to the Chinook is the CH-53 (probably in X variant, co-operating with the USMC a la JSF) which is being proposed by Sikorsky. Adopting the CH-53 would require modifications to the lifts of the Invincible Class carriers (and perhaps HMS Ocean), but this might be cheaper than introducing bespoke folding in to the airframe in order to meet RN lift size restrictions. SABR-heavy has been increasingly likely to form the largest portion of a total SABR buy of up to 80 aircraft (later reduced to 70, but may increase to 100+ if combined with BLUH/SCMR). For SABR light the de facto solution for a long time appeared to be the AugustaWestland Merlin HM.3+. However in mid-2004 there began to be rumours that Workstrand 13 investigating the MOD's Future Rotorcraft Equipment Plan had made some radical recommendations in order to cut costs. In particular it was suggesting that SABR-light should be merged with the RN's Surface Combatant Maritime Rotorcraft (SCMR) and Army's Battlefield Light Utility Helicopter (BLUH) requirements, and that a common medium lift transport and utility helicopter be selected for the combined requirement - with an estimated saving of over £1 billion. The AugustaWestland Merlin HM.3+ (previously favoured for SABR) is considered to be larger and more expensive than ideal for a combined SCMR/BLUH/SABR-light requirement, while the Future Lynx is too small. The NHIndustries NH90, or possibly the Sikorsky MH-60S/R, represents a much better compromise choice from the most military points of view. The RAF much prefers the c.10 tonnes payload capacity of the "heavy lift" Boeing CH-47F over the shorter range "medium-heavy" AugustaWestland Merlin HC.3+ with its up to 7 tonnes capacity, while buying both helicopter types is considered to result in an unnecessary capability overlap at the Medium/High end and associated additional costs, while also would still require the "light" Future Lynx at the low end of the spectrum. But a purchase of a "true medium" helicopter such as the NH.90 with its 4 tonnes maximum payload means that the overlap with the Chinook is avoided at the lower (light) end of SABR , while the NH.90 is also small enough and and cheap enough that it can overlap downwards to fulfil most of the old BLUH requirement and some SCMR roles. Cost is also a driver, the MOD now appears to be strongly inclined towards adopting a two helicopter mix (probably CH-47F and NH90) for SCMR/BLUH/SABR at an estimated combined cost of about £3 billion, rather than the previously expected three (probably CH-47F, Merlin HC.3+ and Future Lynx) at nearly £4.2 billion. Alain Gauthier, commercial director of NH Industries, said in September 2004 that Britain was considering buying 100 NH90 helicopters, which would leave no room for AugustaWestland. The NH90 which is currently available in two models - a dedicated Naval Frigate Helicopter (NFH) for the maritime mission, and a Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH) for the army aviation role. However for meeting the UK's combined SCMR/BLUH/SABR requirement EADS (effectively the 62.5% controlling shareholder of NHIndustries) is believed to be proposing some kind of hybrid solution, a senior source at NHIndustries saying: "We can play with features taken from the TTH and NFH variants to put together a customer-optimised configuration." The approach may be similar to Australia which selected the NH90 in August 2004, its MRH90 variant will be modelled on the German Army's version, with slight variations such as electrically-folding main rotor blades and extensive navalisation features, including emergency flotation kits. The industrial (and political) requirement that SCMR and SABR aircraft must be manufactured in the UK made an interesting turn in May 2004 when was announced that GKN was negotiating the sale of its stake in AugustaWestland to Finmeccanica for £1 billion, making the company entirely Italian owned. Completion of the deal is expected by the end of 2004. The sale price includes £35 million to be held in escrow and repaid by GKN to Finmeccanica if the helicopter business is not awarded by the MOD the anticipated Future Lynx contract for SCMR/BLUH by May 2008. Without FLynx work the old Westland Yeovil plant is expected to be quickly closed, Finmeccanica consolidating any outstanding EH.101 Merlin work at the Vergiate plant in Italy. While any EADS offer in relation to NH90 might involve the Yeovil plant building the NH90's, EADS is far from keen about this approach because it already has three NH-90 assembly lines in Europe and plenty of spare capacity for a large (perhaps as many as 100 helicopters) UK order. EADS believes that it will be able to offer a high enough UK content or offsets in its NH90 proposal for the industrial aspects to be acceptable to the UK government. There were press reports in August 2004 that the MOD was seriously considering ordering four NH90 helicopters for the Special Forces Command.
NH90 - TACTICAL TRANSPORT HELICOPTER (TTH)
Missions Additional applications include medevac (12 stretchers), special operations, electronic warfare, airborne command post, parachuting, VIP transport, flight training. Equipment The TTH is designed for high manoeuvrability and survivability in Nap Of the Earth operations near FEBA (Forward Edge of Battlefield Area). Because of its features and system integration the TTH is capable of operating successfully by day and night under adverse weather conditions in any environment.
Weights Engine ratings (SL, ISA) Fuel capacity Main dimensions Seating/arrangement
SCMR LinksNote: Links open in new windows EADS - NH90 a Strong Contender for UK’s Helicopter Requirements
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© 2004-8 Richard Beedall unless otherwise indicated. |
Main Characteristics