Fri, Dec 10, 2010
Several Advanced Capabilities Demonstrated In 40 Minute
Flight
The second of three company-funded Armed Aerial Scout 72X
Technical Demonstration Aircraft (TDA) has completed its first
flight, EADs North America said Wednesday. The flight took place
Tuesday at the company’s American Eurocopter facility in
Grand Prairie, Texas and lasted 40 minutes.
Eurocopter Photo
The objective of this flight was to demonstrate integrated
targeting sensor, manned/unmanned teaming (MUM-T) and
communications and navigation capabilities. Subsequent test flights
will demonstrate additional capabilities required to meet the U.S.
Army’s current Armed Aerial Scout mission requirements.
“This is a significant milestone for our industry team as we
further demonstrate the capabilities of our aircraft and its
ability to meet the Army’s warfighting requirement,”
said Sean O’Keefe, CEO of EADS North America.
“We’re pleased with our progress to date and remain
fully committed to developing and demonstrating a solution for the
Armed Aerial Scout mission.”
The first TDA aircraft has been in use to demonstrate
anticipated AAS-72X requirements for the Army’s Armed Aerial
Scout mission. This includes a July 2009 series of successful
high/hot test flights that achieved all test objectives including
hover-out-of-ground-effect and flight endurance with a 2,300-pound
simulated MEP, and a transportability demonstration of five
helicopters on a C-17 transport aircraft.
Since that time, EADS says other advancements on the program
include the development of the MEP Systems Integration Laboratory
at Lockheed Martin’s Orlando, FL. facility. “Lockheed
Martin’s considerable progress in maturing the
state-of-the-art AAS MEP demonstrates our commitment to providing a
best-value, superior solution to meet the warfighters’ armed
scout need,” said Bob Gunning, Lockheed Martin Missiles and
Fire Control vice president of Fire Control programs. “We are
leveraging our expertise from other combat-proven rotary- and
fixed-wing programs to develop the lowest risk MEP. This first
flight marks a significant achievement on our path towards flying a
production prototype.”
File Photo
The AAS-72X is derived from the same family of aircraft as the
UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopter. Production of the AAS-72X
would take place at the Columbus, MS. helicopter center of
excellence operated by American Eurocopter, an EADS North America
operating unit, where the UH-72A currently is assembled for the
U.S. Army. The EADS North America-led industry team, comprised of
Lockheed Martin, Eurocopter and American Eurocopter, is developing
three AAS-72X aircraft to demonstrate the total capability of the
aircraft with a fully-integrated Mission Equipment Package
(MEP).
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