Helicópteros de combate

[champi]

Hoy que tengo más tiempo os resumo el artículo.

El programa ATAK comenzó en 1.996, con la intención de obtener 145 helicópteros de ataque y reconocimiento armado. A ese primer concurso llegaron como finalistas Bell con el AH-1Z y Kamov (junto con IAI) con el Ka-50-2 "Erdogan", quedando el primero de ellos como ganador. En el año 2.000 comenzaron las negociaciones que remataron con la cancelación del programa en 2.004 debido principalmentea las restricciones impuestas desde EEUU en la computadora de misión y a los sobrecostes.

A consecuencia de ello, ese mismo año se lanzó el ATAK II, con el propósito de que el nuevo aparato llevase la mayor cantidad posible de sistemas locales. En el nuevo concurso Bell decidió no presentarse, pero como ironía del destino, una de las unidades del AH-1 fue la escogida como mula para ir probando todos los sistemas desarrollados para la nueva plataforma. De esta forma se gueron probando una torreta FLIR, los Spike-ER y los UMTAS (misil antitanque local). En 2.006 se escogieron como nuevos finalistas el Mangusta y el Rooivalk, escogiéndose como ganador al primero de ellos en 2.007. El contrato firmado tenía un valor de $3.084 millones por 50 helicópteros (con opción a 41 más), de los que la gran mayoría fueron a parar a Agusta-Westland ($1.700 millones). Sin embargo, debido a requerimientos operacionales urgentes se firmó en 2.010 otro contrato de $450 millones por sólo 9 T-129 más que serán entregados este mismo año. Las entregas se completarán previsiblemente en 2.017.

Las unidades vendrán en dos bloques, llamados TUC-1 y TUC-2 (Turkish Unique Configuration). Las primeras 30 unidades pertenecerán al primer bloque e incorporarán una computadora de misión local, lo mismo que el FLIR y el equipo de autoprotección. Por otra parte, el casco será el Top Owl y los misiles escogidos los Hellfire o los Spike-ER. Los restantes 20 se equiparán con HMCDS locales y con el misil UMTAS.

El helicóptero es en lo que a "bastidor" se refiere, básicamente un A-129 International con nuevo motor (2 X 1.360 shp) y nueva caja de cambios. Cumple con las exigencias de operar en entornos a gran altura y temperatura y está preparado para una vida útil de 6.000 horas. Tiene además MWS, RWR y un radar de onda milimétrica para el control de tiro, que entrará el año que viene en fase de pruebas. El armamento también incluye el M197 de 20mm, los "cohetes guiados" de 70mm Cirit (también locales) y el Stinger.

Un saludo.

[champi]

Y también de Cleared Hot, cifras (no actualizadas) sobre helicópteros de ataque rusos:

[champi]

El primer ATAK del lote de los 9 adquiridos "con urgencia" entrará en servicio en junio: http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... rs-370270/

By: Tolga Ozbek Istanbul
Source: Flight International

The first of nine interim T129 EDH attack helicopters being acquired under Turkey's ATAK project will enter service in June, with the nation's Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (SSM) expecting four of the type to be delivered this year.

Derived from AgustaWestland's AW129 by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and Aselsan, the T129 EDH was first flown in September 2011. Current activity with two of the aircraft includes test flights and weapon firings involving the design's 20mm cannon and 2.75in (7cm) rockets.

The EDH model, which is being bought to cover an urgent need to replace some of the Turkish army's Bell AH-1 Cobras, will lack the ability to fire other weapons intended for use by the main T129B variant. The other five EDH aircraft are to be delivered in 2013.

TAI is continuing to produce and test the T129B, with the first of 51 aircraft to be handed over in July 2013. The remainder will follow by 2018.

[champi]

Algo sobre los Apache Block III que no había visto: http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articl ... tests.html

Apache Block III Helicopter Performs Well In Tests
(Source: US Army; issued April 3, 2012)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. --- The U.S. Army's AH-64 Apache Block III next-generation attack helicopter is finishing up its Initial Operational Test and Evaluation at Fort Irwin, Calif., and should be ready to deploy with Soldiers sometime next year, officials said April 2 at the Army Aviation Association of America's 2012 Professional Forum and Exposition.
...
Also, Apache attack helicopters will soon be flying with a prototype enemy fire detection system called Ground Fire Acquisition System, or GFAS, a suite of sensors and cameras able to locate the source, location and distance of incoming hostile fire, Army officials said.

Prototypes of the GFAS systems, which will soon undergo a "user evaluation" in theater, are built on to Apache aircraft; they contain camera sensors on each wingtip engineered to detect the signature and muzzle flash of nearby enemy small arms fire. The system is engineered with the ability to distinguish small arms fire from larger guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

The cameras and infrared sensors on the aircraft detect the muzzle flash from ground fire - and move the information through an Aircraft Gateway Processor into the cockpit so pilots will see an icon on their display screen; GFAS is integrated with Blue Force Tracking technology, digital map display screens which show the locations of nearby forces and surrounding terrain.
...

Pues resumiendo, lleva cámaras en la punta de las alas capaces de detectar el flash de armas de fuego, clasificarlas (entre pequeños calibres y RPGs), localizarlas y decir si pertenecen a fuerzas amigas o no.

[Orel]

Bueno, por ahora es un prototipo que van a evaluar. Es que como dices que "en resumen, lleva cámaras", parece que ya es un hecho Es un gran invento. Están probándose varios de estos equipos en vehículos terrestres y para infantería. Por ahí teníamos algunas noticias.

[champi]

Sobre el Apache Block III: http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/apa ... ned-02480/

[Orel]

Sobre los Apache ingleses en Libia:

Op Ellamy was 'a triumph for the forces and for Libya'
16 May 2012

In the first of two features on the lessons learned from Op Ellamy, Royal Navy and army personnel who served on the frontline in Libya tell DefenceManagement.com some of the real stories behind the success
...

Question: As well as a triumph for the Royal Navy, the operation was also a success for the people of Libya, Commander Williams said.

"From the perspective of where we started –we had bodies floating past the ship, people trying to get out of the coast of Tripoli and Misrata on the verge of collapse – from the Libyan populations' perspective it was a tremendous success."

Question: The operation also saw the Royal Navy and army team up as Apache helicopters flew from HMS Ocean.
The Army Air Corps' Lieutenant Colonel Jason Etherington said the relations between army and navy personnel on both HMS Ocean and, post-Libya, HMS Illustrious, were "absolutely fantastic".

"They were patient and helped train and develop the competencies of the crews and I really do think there is a relationship that has been built certainly with Ocean, certainly with Illustrious, that will last for many years," said Etherington.

Question: As for the actual combat, the Army Air Corps were exposed to more risk than most, with many of the Gaddafi regime's 20,000 Man Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) available to hostile forces on the ground and still in use. So how did the crews handle the risk from surface-to-air missiles?

"They were certainly aware of it. The threat was different to what they experienced in Afghanistan but actually the crews have a significant amount of confidence in the aircraft, the aircraft is built for operating within an active battlefield. So we were aware of it but we certainly had the equipment that could deal with the threat," he said.

"There were a few surface-to-air missiles fired at the Apache. If you speak to crews they will say it was relatively hairy, but again the aircraft did its job, defeated anything that was targeted at the Apache and, in fact, at the end of it in September there wasn't a single bit of battle damage on any of the aircraft; so they did their job remarkably."

Question: MANPADS-threat aside, the tempo of operations was said to be "very similar" to Afghanistan.

"The soldiers and the aircrew get used to working at a certain tempo [in Afghanistan], and I don't think the tempo changed," said Lt Col Etherington. "It is a completely new environment, operating from a ship, however they had trained the previous year and they had been on exercise Cougar for three or four weeks leading up to it. Certainly this was the first ever time that Apache has deployed from a ship operationally."

Question: So what lessons will the Army Air Corps be able to draw from operations in Libya?

"The Apache has proven how versatile and capable it is," says Lt Col Etherington. "The crews already had confidence, they have even more confidence in the aircraft, so I think the actual lessons that we've learned from this is how to train to get to that readiness from a ship.

"For us it's about training. Having not done that before we had to hurdle every single one of the training events that we had to achieve. We had to get all of our individuals used to operating on a ship and that takes several hundred man training days. That for me was the biggest lesson. We now know what it takes to prepare ourselves to operate on a ship and we will continue to do that and continue to build on our competencies."

http://www.defencemanagement.com/featur ... p?id=19753

[Orel]

Corea del Sur tiene en marcha un concurso para adquirir 60 cazas de última generación... pues bien, también han abierto uno para adquirir 36 helos de ataque. Los modelos en liza son Apache (AH-64D), SuperCobra (AH-1Z) y Mangusta (T-129B).
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... nt-372995/

[charoska]

¿y el Tigretón?

[poliorcetes]

Qué éxito internacional.

[champi]

Comienza la entrega de 3 Mi-25 sirios puestos al día por Rusia: http://defpro.com/news/details/36906/

07:05 GMT, June 28, 2012 ZHUKOVSKY | The first consignment of three Mil Mi-25 helicopter gunships for Syria has been overhauled and will be delivered to the customer within the contracted time, Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation director Alexander Fomin said on Thursday, according to RIA Novosti.

The contract for the repair of the helicopters was signed by Russia and Syria in 2008, he said.

"Syria is our friend, and we we fulfil all our obligations to our friends. According to the 2008 contract, we repaired three Mi-25s and are ready to delivery them on time," Fomin said on the sidelines of the Technology in Machine-Building 2012 exhibition at Zhukovsky near Moscow.

The helicopters became the center of a diplomatic row earlier this month, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claiming Russia was supplying weapons that would be used to massacre civilian protesters.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied the claim, saying the helicopters had originally been supplied in the Soviet-era and were being returned to Syria under an existing contract. He also said military equipment being supplied to Syria was defensive in nature and could not be used against civilians.

A ship which was carrying the helicopters from Russia’s exclave of Kaliningrad to Syria turned back last week and docked in Murmansk, after the British insurer of the vessel withdrew cover after being informed of the cargo. (RIA Novosti)

Editado: El LCH indio comienza hoy las pruebas de vuelo a nivel del mar: http://livefist.blogspot.com.es/2012/06 ... level.html

PHOTO: MAJ VK SINGH / DPR DEFENCE

India's Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) is all set to begin a week of sea-level trials early tomorrow morning at Tambaram, on the outskirts of Chennai. A prototype of the LCH landed at Tambaram today along with a Mi-8 chase helicopter from the Yelahanka air force station. The trials which could stretch to ten days will include generic performance and handling at sea-level (Bangalore is at 3,000 feet above sea level), calibration of the LCH's air speed measurement system and measurement of forces in terms of stress on various components of the platform.

Livefist wishes the test team the very best for the week ahead!

Incidentally -- something big to look out for soon is the third prototype of the LCH, which my sources tell me will be the defining shape and configuration of the final LCH. I'm told it will look significantly different in terms of dimensions too.

Posted by Shiv Aroor at 8:20 PM

[Orel]

El LCH indio comienza hoy las pruebas de vuelo a nivel del mar

Pues sobre el Z-10 (WZ-10) chino hay también noticia: EEUU ha llevado a cabo un proceso contra unas empresas por saltarse un veto y haberle vendido a China software que les permitirá desarrollar y producir su primer helo de ataque moderno: http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.asp ... 472312.xml

"June 28, 2012: United Technologies and two of its subsidiaries sold China software enabling Chinese authorities to develop and produce their first modern military attack helicopter, U.S. authorities said June 28.
At a federal court hearing in Bridgeport, Conn., United Technologies and its two subsidiaries, Pratt & Whitney Canada and Hamilton Sundstrand, agreed to pay more than $75 million to the U.S. government to settle criminal and administrative charges related to the sales.
As part of the settlement, Pratt & Whitney Canada agreed to plead guilty to two federal criminal charges - violating a U.S. export control law and making false statements. The charges were in connection with the export to China of U.S.-origin military software used in Pratt & Whitney Canada engines, which was used to test and develop the new Z-10 helicopter."

[poliorcetes]

In 1979, the Chinese military
studied the problem of countering
large armour formations. It
concluded that the best
conventional solution were attack
helicopters . Eight Aérospatiale
Gazelle armed with Euromissile HOT
were procured for evaluation.

el mismo problema que nosotros: siguen con la pesada carga del diseño original de tener Coño función principal la de ser un camión de misiles AT.

[Orel]

de tener Coño función principal

[poliorcetes]

Eso me pasa por escribir con el móvil mientras estaba andando. Si hubiera dictado como lo estoy haciendo ahora mismo, no me habría salido un error tan saleroso como ese.