The Helicopter Market Lifts Again
By Scott Clay

Major helicopter makers are reporting an increase in platform builds during the past year, which means the associated connectors and wire harnesses are seeing volumes rise as well. Both military and civil builds show increasing numbers, especially in the U.S., despite the worldwide economic turmoil and cuts in defense spending.

In the U.S., the military is using the excess billions set aside from the cancellation of the Comanche Attack Helicopter to increase builds on various other platforms. The real winner in this situation has been the Boeing Company and its venerable AH-64D craft, still the most formidable attack helicopter in the world. It is now undergoing a new upgrade: The “Block III” version will be even more formidable on the battlefields of the future. This upgrade will include more powerful engines, better avionics and controls, more carbon fiber and armor protection, while cutting the overall weight, better high altitude performance, and much better serviceability, wiring systems, electronics, and protective countermeasures. The same can be said of the other key rotorcraft in the U.S. arsenal, including the HK-47, UH-60 series, Bell UH-1 and Cobra AH-1Z Gunship, and the new Eurocopter UH-72 utility craft, which is used as an air ambulance, Scout and Reconnaissance (SAR), and advanced trainer. This platform also has been modified and upgraded to compete in the Army’s new competition for the next-generation Armed Aerial Scout mission, a series that will replace the venerable OH-58 Kiowa, which has been in service since the 1970s. 

Business is good, and order books for the major helo makers are filled, in some cases for the next five to seven years. However, there are two key issues that concern the Bell’s, Boeing’s, Sikorsky’s, Eurocopter’s, and other makers and their suppliers.

One is long-range program funding, which could cut large amounts of the money earmarked for these builds if the defense budget is cut. Rumors in Washington and throughout the Department of Defense talk about cuts as high as a third of current spending levels, especially as our withdrawal from Iraq continues, and the war in Afghanistan winds down. Some people see this as similar to the “Peace Dividend” that followed large cuts in defense of all sorts after the fall of the former Soviet Union. With the current large budget deficits, many feel savings in the military area could be transferred over to the civilian side, where it is desperately needed. One can see this in the drastic defense spending cuts almost all of the European Union countries have made, some of which need billions in “bail-out” money just to save their economies from fiscal meltdown. Some U.S. lawmakers have mentioned cutting a trillion dollars out of the defense sector over the next 10 years. While the 2011, 2012, and even the 2013 budgets will see relatively small budget reductions, the years beyond that are becoming a real concern to military leaders and planners.

The other area of concern for the major builders is the need for innovation and new technology in the next generation of rotorcraft. One speaker at the Army Aviation Association Meeting said, “We are remanufacturing 30- and 40-year old helicopters, loading them with great new equipment, but not stretching their performance.” In truth, the four mainstays of the military’s helicopter fleet were all originally designed and first built in the late 1960s and 1970s. The OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Scout Helo is based on a 1960 design. Its replacement, after one false (and cancelled) start, is only in the prototype and demonstration phase.   

The Boeing AH-64D Apache Attack Helicopter was designed originally by the McDonnell Douglas Company in the 1970s, and is now undergoing extensive upgrades to the Block III level.  Production of this upgrade has just started, and this version of the platform will serve for another 20 years or more. All of the surviving early model “A” versions will be upgraded to the new standard over the next 10 years.

The HK-47K Heavy Lift Helicopter is also being rebuilt into a platform that outwardly looks identical to the original design, but is being completely rebuilt and upgraded for use by the U.S. and other countries. The UH-60 series Blackhawk looks and even sounds like the same helicopter that was new in the early 1980s, but it is completely different in almost every other aspect. A UH-60 still looks like a UH-60. 

The Army’s Aviation Applied Technology Directorate and various program managers want to invest wisely in new systems, with special emphasis on more speed, lighter weight in all areas, more stealth characteristics, improved and more efficient power plants, more payload ability, longer range, and greater lifting performance, especially at high altitudes.

Several helo companies are building and testing new designs with counter-rotating main blades, a vertical tail drive propeller system, and speed targets in excess of 250 knots to 300 knots. Paiseki’s X-49A compound helicopter, Sikorsky’s X2 co-axial-rotor demonstrator, 2 S-97 armed versions called the “Raider,” and Europcopter’s X3 twin-prop engine demonstrator (built on a new EC145 airframe) are examples of this new technology.

The connector and wiring systems required for these new rotorcraft exhibit the latest technology available, including composite and micro and nano connectors, composite coated wire, and new and more capable fiber optics, ruggedized electronic systems, and the latest data, video, GPS equipment, and service and maintenance computers.

While these new models are tested and proven, the upgrades and new builds of the existing helicopters will continue at a fast pace, to replace older, out-of-use craft, combat losses, and attrition, giving the military the craft it needs to combat threats in various areas. Smart new connectors are playing a key role in giving good old machines a second wind. And in entirely new designs, they soar.