Flight International 09Mar2020

THIS WEEK

10 | Flight International | 3-9 March 2020 flightglobal.com

Sikorsky type will be used in anti-submarine and surface warfare role

US Navy

British Army AH1 will conduct trial following minor modifications

Crown Copyright

N

ew Delhi has concluded pur-

chase agreements worth over

$3.5 billion for 24 Sikorsky

MH-60R helicopters for the Indi-

an navy and six Boeing AH-64E

Apaches for its army.

Both deals were confirmed

during US President Donald

Trump’s state visit to India in late

February.

Sikorsky is expected to con-

clude deliveries of all 24

MH-60Rs by 2023. The acquisi-

tion is being made via the USA’s

Foreign Military Sales (FMS)

mechanism, with an estimated

cost of $2.6 billion. The deal had

secured approval from India’s

Cabinet Committee on Security

the week before Trump’s visit.

To provide anti-submarine and

anti-surface warfare capabilities,

the type will be armed with Lock-

heed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire air-

to-surface missiles, BAE Systems

Advanced Precision Kill Weapon

System guided rockets and Mk

torpedoes. New Delhi could also

acquire Kongsberg Defence & Aer-

ospace’s anti-ship Naval Strike

Missile to equip the type.

The Indian navy now has a

stated shortfall of 61 shipborne

helicopters for its warships.

AH-64E deliveries will begin

in 2023. The army’s Apache pur-

chase is expected to be worth

around $930 million, split be-

tween a direct commercial sale

with Boeing for the airframes and

logistics and an FMS element

concerning engines, weapons,

sensors and other components.

India’s air force has so far taken

delivery of 17 examples, from a

22-unit order, with the remainder

to be delivered before the end

of March.

On receiving its Apaches, the

army will set up its first dedicated

attack helicopter squadron. As

with the air force, its aircrew and

ground personnel are expected to

receive training at the US Army’s

Fort Rucker site in Alabama. ■

L

eonardo will in April begin a

series of flight trials in the UK

in which an unmanned air vehi-

cle (UAV) will be controlled by

the crew of Lynx Wildcat

helicopter – so called Manned-

Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T).

To be carried out in conjunction

with the UK’s Defence Science and

Technology Laboratory, the tests

will build on simulator work last

year that confirmed the feasibility

of the effort.

“The big idea is to test the

cognitive burden on the pilot

and then trying to reduce that,”

the manufacturer told Defence

IQ’s International Military Heli-

copter conference in London on

25 February.

Using a British Army Wildcat

AH1 helicopter, the evaluations

Only small modifications – the

installation of an antenna – are

required to the Wildcat to enable

communication with the drone,

which will be provided by

Callen-Lenz.

With the UAV deployed

around 4nm (8km) from the heli-

copter, it will be used to search

for a person in three different set-

tings – in the open, under tree

cover and in an urban area.

The drone will be piloted by

the observer/gunner in the Wild-

cat’s left-hand seat and data from

its electro-optical payload will be

fed into the helicopter’s standard

displays, says Leonardo. ■

TECHNOLOGY DOMINIC PERRY LONDON

Wildcat poised for Leonardo MUM-T experiment

will be carried out from 20 April

until 1 May on the Salisbury

Plain training area in southwest

England.

PROCUREMENT MIKE RAJKUMAR BENGALURU

India visit delivers $3.5 billion

in US military rotorcraft sales

Trump’s trip ends with twin deals to supply navy with MH-60Rs and AH-64Es for army

C

ape Air has become the first

operator to begin revenue

flights of the Tecnam P2012 Trav-

eller, having dispatched the type

on an inaugural commercial

flight from its Hyannis base to

Nantucket island on 22 February.

The Cape Cod, Massachusetts-

based carrier, which is replacing

some 80 Cessna 402Cs with the

Italian-built aircraft, has since

placed several P2012s into ser-

vice as it evaluates the type’s per-

formance. The aircraft have also

operated Hyannis-Boston and

Boston-Nantucket flights.

The carrier, one of the USA’s

few truly independent regional

airlines, received its first two

P2012s in October 2019 and now

has five in New England.

Four more of the nine-passen-

ger aircraft will arrive in Cape

Cod shortly, the airline says.

Cape Air will continue inte-

grating P2012s into its New Eng-

land network, where it has the

greatest concentration of pilots,

mechanics and other staff, before

deploying the Travellers to “more

permanent locations”. ■

OPERATIONS

JON HEMMERDINGER BOSTON

Traveller begins

revenue service

from Nantucket