Now Prepping For OpEval
With more than 95 percent of their development complete, the
five aircraft of the 84 percent identical AH-1Z and UH-1Y
helicopters currently in flight test marked their 3,000th flight
hour June 1 during weapons accuracy testing in Yuma, AZ.
Marine Corps test pilots Maj. Vic Argobright and Capt. Mark
Angersbach of the H-1 Integrated Test Team flew through the
milestone on their way to the range in AH-1Z #2.
Nearly simultaneously, and on the other side of the country,
other members of the team were conducting a firing loads survey
with one of the UH-1Y test aircraft here, as well as getting ready
for the operational evaluation of the aircraft - the formal
acceptance trial by Marine Corps operational pilots and
aircrew.
"The engineers, maintainers, pilots and supporting staff on our
combined contractor/government test team continue to click on all
cylinders," said the H-1 program's Buck Buchanan, deputy program
manager for the AH-1Z and UH-1Y upgrades. "Crossing this 3,000-hour
milestone is a testament to the reliability of these new aircraft
and to the diligence of our flight test team."
This comes hard on the heels of the aircraft's first shipboard
landings May 7.
Operating aboard the Multipurpose Amphibious Assault Ship USS
Bataan off the Virginia Capes, the two aircraft made 267 landings
during nearly 30 flight hours in both day and night operations to
test their ability to operate in the shipboard environment.
"With recent completion of shipboard compatibility tests onboard
USS Bataan and on-going weapons accuracy tests at Yuma Proving
Grounds, we're looking forward to completion of the systems
integration phase of our testing and entry into OpEval later this
year," Buchanan added.
Since the first upgraded H-1 made its maiden flight Dec. 7,
2000, the H-1 Upgrades program has more than 3,000 flight test
hours tallied since Dec. 7, 2000 and has fired more than 2,000
2.75-inch rockets, 13,662 rounds of machine gun and automatic
cannon ammunition, 11 Hellfire anti-armor missiles and three AIM-9
Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. Other current testing includes
UH-1Y firing loads and vibrations testing here.
Both an AH-1Z and a UH-1Y have also entered their final
modification period prior to starting OpEval. Operational pilots
and aircrew have also begun training in preparation for conducting
OpEval.
The AH-1Z and UH-1Y are slated to replace the current fleet of
AH-1W and UH-1N aircraft which have been operating at sea with the
Marine Corps for many years. The H-1 program provides over 80%
parts commonality for the two aircraft.
A change to the program that will build UH-1Ys completely new,
rather than remanufacturing them from aging UH-1N's, received
approval by the Defense Department's acquisition chief in April
2005. The first new build UH-1Ys will start production in 2006 as
part of the third lot of low-rate initial production aircraft.
First deliveries of the new aircraft are scheduled to begin in
2008.
Currently, 10 UH-1Y and six AH-1Z aircraft are in production at
Bell Helicopter's Fort Worth and Amarillo, Texas facilities. By
2018, the Marine Corps will have procured 100 UH-1Y Hueys and 180
AH-1Z Super Cobras.