Naval aviation: Navy, Marine helicopter fleets will see steady arrivals of new aircraft.

• Author: Colucci, Frank

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps plan to equip their aircraft fleers with 1,429 new rotorcraft during the next 20 years.

"We've got a lot of stuff moving very, very rapidly," says Tom Laux, Navy program executive officer for air, antisubmarine warfare, assault, and special missions.

Navy program managers contend that the current fleet is wearing out faster than expected as a result of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Marine CH-53Es have experienced twice the anticipated attrition resulting from mishaps. Officials predict that airframe fatigue will cause safety problems by 2011 or 2012.

In the first three weeks of Operation Iraqi Freedom, 89 AH-1W attack and 45 UH-1N utility helicopters flew 7,500 hours, an operating tempo several times higher than normal peacetime conditions. The Marines have lost, since 9/11, 17 H-1s--5.5 percent of the fleet. Their remaining UH-1Ns are underpowered and overweight. "The Novembers just aren't there any more to fill the Marine Corps mission," says the H-1 program manager, Col. Keith Birkholz.

At the same time, the military services are demanding more capabilities from their helicopters. The new SH-60R Seahawk retains its primary anti-submarine warfare mission, but now integrates sensors and weapons for littoral combat. Later production MH-60S Knight Hawks may convert from vertical replenishment to airborne mine countermeasures, and then to armed helicopter missions.

"We need to focus on capabilities," says the H-60 program manager, Capt. Paul Grosklags. The multi-mission MH-60S, for example, needs systems that are simpler to operate, and equipped with more automated functions. "We need to de-complicate machines," says Laux.

But not all requirements can be met with electronics alone. Separately from the heavy lift replacement, the Marine Corps is participating in joint studies to define a vertical takeoff and landing replacement for the KC-130 Hercules that is scheduled to enter service around 2025. A 100,000-pound joint heavy lifter will require advances in rotor systems, flight controls and propulsion.

He notes that manpower still consumes the biggest chunk of the naval aviation budget, and the service looks for personnel savings to pay for new aircraft. The MH-60R, for example, trims the four-man crew of the SH-60F anti-submarine warfare helicopter to three people. Commonality between the AH-1Z and UH-Y will enable Marine expeditionary units to deploy more aircraft without additional maintainers.

In the 1970s, Marine light attack squadrons deployed aboard amphibious assault ships with a mix of six AH-1J Sea Cobras and three UH-1N Twin Hueys that shared common engines and other components. Today, AH-1Ws and UH-1Ns deploy in a 4-2 or 4-3 mix...