Sensors aboard helicopters can help predict parts failures.

• Author: Colucci, Frank

Seeking to cut maintenance costs and improve the readiness of its helicopter fleets, the U.S. Army is considering expanding the use of so-called "health monitoring" systems, which will allow maintainers to predict when parts will need replacement. Health-and-usage monitoring systems (HUMS) now are in development for the Army's new UH-60M Black Hawk and Block III AH-64D Apache helicopters. HUMS help track the wear and tear of aircraft components

Meanwhile, a new cargo platform maintenance environment (CPME) is being fielded for the CH-47 Chinook heavy lift helicopter. The technology could be applicable to the broader helicopter fleet, officials said.

The first CH-47 unit with the CPME will deploy to Afghanistan later this year and demonstrate "tele-maintenance" capability with links back to the United States. CPME will record maintenance actions, aircraft configurations and routine business metrics to help the Army manage its Chinook fleet more efficiently, officials said.

"Right now, we have no visibility on the root cause of [component] failures," says Ted Schmidt, chief of logistics at the Aviation and Missile Command cargo helicopter program office. "We don't know if a part was removed for a fault, time between overhauls or a false removal."

False or premature part removals unnecessarily decrease aircraft availability and increase support costs. While today's Army supply system simply processes requisitions, future fleet managers will use a database to tie maintenance actions to specific parts, aircraft and units. "We'll be able to track a failure all the way through the maintenance structure and see what will be the effect," says Schmidt. The CH-47 program manager, for example, has already cited CPME data to support doubling the Chinook inspection interval from 200 hours to 400 hours.

The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment already maintains its Chinooks, Black Hawks and Little Birds with a homegrown digital data system based on the paper forms used by the Standard Army Maintenance Information System.

CPME will not replace the current system, but it will provide the means to integrate comprehensive maintenance recording and schedule planning with aircraft HUMS.

The combination of a ground-based maintenance management system and helicopter-borne HUMS will monitor transmission, drive-train and control components in specific missions and theaters. Tied to cockpit displays, a predictive HUMS can warn aircrews of impending failures.

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