Special Operators Await Speedier Helicopters.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew

TAMPA, Florida--The Army is working on developing two new speedy helicopters, and Special Operations Command expects them both to one day be in its inventory--with modifications, of course.

Special Operaations Command flies three helicopter models, the A/MH-6 light attack/assault "Little Bird," the MH-60 medium attack/assault aircraft--based on the Black Hawk--and the MH-47 heavy assault aircraft, based on the Chinook.

"They're asked to deploy anywhere in the world with short notice. And they're asked to do most of their missions at nighttime, at low altitude and at high speed," said Geoffrey Downer, SOCOM's program executive officer for rotary wing aircraft.

"Those missions sets require very unique capabilities on the aircraft," he said at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference, organized by the National Defense Industrial Association.

The command has taken these three aircraft--the Little Bird beginning its life as a commercial aircraft and the other two based on Army designs--and altered them with upgrades and features that allow them to do their special missions, he said.

Meanwhile, the Army--under its Future Vertical Lift program--is developing the Future Attack and Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) for assault and scouting missions and the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) to replace the Black Hawk.

"We're very excited about the ability to get these new aircraft in our fleet," Downer said in a briefing at the conference.

Speed is the primary reason he cited. The Little Bird tops out at 90 knots. The FARA will allow pilots to fly about twice that speed at 180 knots. The MH-60 flies at 120 knots, its replacement will be required to go 230 knots, he noted.

"This gives us a chance to have a revolutionary new approach to fly the aircraft," he said.

The three hallmarks of the Future Vertical Lift program include increasing the speed and range of the aircraft and creating a modular, open-system architecture.

The latter suits Special Operations Command as it has a history of taking helicopters and adding features to help them perform their special missions.

The rotary wing office tries to use as many common items with the Army as possible because they don't come out of SOCOM's funding. If the Army doesn't have a needed capability, the program executive office goes to other services or commercial-off-the-shelf items. "And if those do not exist to meet our requirements, then we develop those uniquely by ourselves," Downer said.

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