Evropski program velikog transportnog helihoptera

[Dreadnought]

Kako se bližio kraj Pariskog Air Show 2007, Francuska i Nemačka su potvrdile "govorkanja" i potpisale zajednički ugovor o namerama za peavljenje programa velikog transportnog helikoptera. Francuska DGA agencija je procenila da bi novi helihopter trebao da bude spreman za službu oko 2020. godine.

Novi helihopter će biti dizajniran da prenosi ljudstvo, lako oklopljena vozila i/ili tovar, sa dobrim performansama za sve vremenske uslove i na velikim visinama. Prema nekim izvorima helihopter bi bio u stanju da ponese do 30 tona tereta. Projekat je poznat pod imenom Helicoptère de Transport Lourd (HTL) u Francuskoj i Future Transport Helicopter (FTH) u Nemačkoj.

Sada su poznatiji neki novi detalji pa možete da pročitate detaljnije o tome u nastavku vesti....


The European Heavy Lift Helicopter Program?

20-Jan-2009

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Mi-26 Lifts MH-47E in Afghanistan

As the 2007 Paris Air Show drew to a close, France and Germany confirmed the rumors and signed a joint declaration of intent to set up a heavy-lift helicopter program. The French DGA procurement agency’s announcement lists an intended in-service date of around 2020. The new machines would be designed to carry personnel, light armored vehicles, and/or cargo, with good performance under a wide range of conditions including hot weather and high altitudes (both of which reduce helicopter performance due to thinner air). The project is known as Helicoptère de Transport Lourd (HTL) in France, and Future Transport Helicopter (same FTH in Deutsch) in Germany.

In terms of future force structure, these helicopters would replace Germany’s aging CH-53G Mittlerer Transporthubschrauber, and offer France a heavy-lift helicopter option for its future force that would sit above its planned NH90s and/or AS 532 Cougars. Both countries would rely on the forthcoming Airbus A400M tactical cargo plane and its 35-tonne capacity for larger loads or longer distances.

Note that some reports have stated that the new helicopter would be “capable of carrying a 30-tonne load.” Unless they’re planning to use gyrodyne technology or something similarly revolutionary, this is very, very doubtful. DID explains. Meanwhile, the program may be morphing into an off-the-shelf competition, complete with international contenders…


Carry That Weight: The Specifications


[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]
CH-53G delivers VBL

Note that 30 tonnes = 30,000 kilograms, or 66,138 pounds. The world’s largest helicopter by far is Russia’s Mi-26 “Halo”; at 56 tonnes/ over 120,000 pounds, it has almost twice the maximum takeoff weight of the USA’s heavy-lift CH-47 Chinook, and can carry 20 tonnes (44,000 pounds) while chug-a-lugging aviation fuel. It is far, far more likely that the new helicopter’s planned capacity is 30,000 pounds. This would be about the capacity planned for the US Marines’ new CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter under ideal conditions, and a bit more than Boeing’s new CH-47F Chinook.

Articles like Eurocopter’s submission to European ROTOR & RESCUE Journal in Spring 2006 offer better glimpses of the proposed specifications. Earlier HTL/FTH specifications had also specified a 36 tonne helicopter – but that was maximum takeoff weight, including the weight of the helicopter itself. Other requirements reportedly include a 10-13t payload (22,000 – 28,600 pounds) at 500km range, transport of up to 70 soldiers, and state of the art technology to improve capabilities and maintenance costs. Another important specification is the reported requirement to transport new armored vehicles like the mine-protected Dingo, or the Fennek reconnaissance vehicle, inside the helicopter’s cabin.

A Sept 4/07 Defense Aerospace report added these details:

“In terms of operational requirements, France wants the new helicopter to be able to transport two VBL light armored vehicles and, possibly, a VAB 13-tonne vehicle as slung cargo. It wants to be able to fly two tactical missions of up to 600 km each without refueling, Mestre said, which implies a maximum range of 1,000-1,500 km. In-flight refueling is a possibility, but is not essential.”

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]
PUB HTH Comparative Dimensions Concept

Earlier reports in European publications had set the cargo weights at around 10t-13t, and designing a transport helicopter to the specifications of the vehicles one wishes to carry is smart. Specification have yet to be finalized; still, examining the above statement, and noting the corresponding German vehicles named in other reports, may help bring the project’s dimensions and cargo capacities into focus.

Since the helicopter is very unlikely to have a cargo space 4.1 m wide, 2 VBLs inside take up at least 8.75m/ 315 inches in length (3.87m each + 1m space). Widths of the Fennek, Dingo, and VAB are all about 2.5 meters/ 98 inches, while the VBL is just 2.02m/ 80 inches wide; if internal carriage of either the Fennek or Dingo is desired, that creates a width requirement around 2.7m/ 106 inches. The helicopter can get away with about 2.3m/ 91 inches of cargo space height if the Dingo can be carried externally; otherwise, the requirement rises to at least 2.5m/ 98 inches and could well be higher. Comparisons based on a notional Eurocopter comparative diagram featured in European ROTOR & RESCUE Journal suggest a close set of figures: 2.8m wide at the floor, rising to 3.2m at the widest point; and 2.9m high.

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Dingo 2

With respect to weights, a VBL’s (Vehicule Blinde Leger) combat weight lists as 3,590 kg, so 2 would weigh 7.2t/ 15,850 pounds. Germany’s Fennek reconnaissance vehicle, in contrast, has a combat weight of 9.7t/ 21,500 pounds. The VAB (Vehicule de l’Avant Blindé) is a standard of the French armed forces and Foreign Legion; its maximum unladen weight for the 6×6 version is 10,500 kg/ 22,600 pounds, and maximum combat weight with all options ranges from 13,600 kg/ 29,920 pounds (4×4) to 14,800 kg/ 32,560 pounds (6×6). It is not a “13t vehicle,” however, which usually denotes a carrying capacity of 13 tonnes. Germany’s Dingo 2, which has been mentioned as a possible cargo load, has an unladen “curb weight” of 25,300 pounds/ 11.5t.

Here are internal dimensions and loads for some currently serving reference platforms; for the CH-47F and CH-53K, assume similar dimensions and slightly higher carrying capacity, with higher improvements planned for the CH-53K. Note that loads are usually calculated at maximums that assume near-sea level flight, normal temperatures, and little range required; carried weight decreases with longer desired ranges, or in hot weather and/or high altitudes.

Izvor: DID