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21-27 April 2020 I flightglobal.com

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BAILOUT

Turn in fortunesSouthwest leads US carriers on course for financial rescue

Max reductionsGol, Smartwings trimBoeing’s 737 backlog 8

Spin cycleSpeed and lethality drive army aviation updates 19

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21-27 April 2020 | Flight International | 3flightglobal.com

CONTENTS

21-27 APRIL 2020

SB-1 Defiant brings attitude to FLRAA contest P20

Bru

ssels

Airlin

es

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THIS WEEK 6 A380 and 747 face worst crisis impact

7 Airbus makes deep cuts to production

8 Boeing suffers as airlines axe Max jets

9 Pandemic’s impact creates a ‘paradox’ for potential NMA

NEWS FOCUS 10 Top 10 tie-ups that never happened…

AIR TRANSPORT 12 A319 pilots made identical selection mistake.

Off-centre landing at Port Harcourt damaged Turkish A330’s tyres

13 Brussels Airlines reveals complexity of ‘hibernation’ measures. EasyJet defers 24 Airbus jets after Stelios’s legal threats. Etihad sets out to use downtime

DEFENCE 14 Delivery drop hits Boeing performance.

Jolly Green II endures battle against elements

15 NAVAIR aerial refuelling trial stretches the endurance of CH-53K. Avionics refresh will keep U-2 fleet on top

16 Camcopter goes extra mile with Boeing. Apache displays precision during maritime targeting tests

BUSINESS AVIATION 17 Transcend tilting for Vy 400 investment.

CTT adds atmosphere to VIP narrowbodies

Go

l

BEHIND THE HEADLINES

Max Kingsley-Jones

analyses the cancellations

from customers including

Gol affecting Boeing’s 737 Max production backlog

(P8). Pilar Wolfsteller tracks

US airlines’ financial steps

to survive the coronavirus crisis, as several agree

bailout terms (P11). And

Garrett Reim prepared our

US Army aviation special report (P19)

Volume 197 Number 5732

Brussels Airlines seals and parks fleet P13

COVER STORY

11 US carriers secure bailout assistance

Deals agreed with airlines will unlock billions in payroll support as part of Washington’s CARES Act response to coronavirus crisis

19 Vertical integration

As they have for centuries, when ground forces today need speed, reach and carrying capacity, they call in the cavalry. The US Army is in the midst of an airpower modernisation to replace and enhance some of its most trusty mounts

NEWS

FEATURES

REGULARS

5 Comment

29 Straight & Level

30 Letters

32 Classified

34 Jobs

35 Working Week

21-27 April 2020 I flightglobal.com

9 7 7 0 0 1 5 3 7 1 3 1 0

1 6£3.90

BAILOUT

Turn in fortunesSouthwest leads US carriers

on course for financial rescue

Max reductionsGol, Smartwings trim

Boeing’s 737 backlog 8

Spin cycleSpeed and lethality drive

army aviation updates 19

AirTe

am

Imag

es

wnload The Engine Directory.htglobal.com/ComEngDirectory

nload the new Commercial Engines Directorywith enhanced data and in-depth market analysis

Download the 2019 Commercial Engines Reportnow with updated enhanced data and in-depth market analysis

flightglobal.com4 | Flight International | 21-27 April 2020

CONTENTS

Image of the week Fresh from its recent modernisation, the Antonov An-225 has carried out its first commercial flight since the upgrade. Chartered to transport 100t of medical supplies from China to Poland as part of the latter’s coronavirus response, the six-engined giant arrived at Warsaw Chopin airport on 14 April, via a refuelling stop in Almaty, Kazakhstan

View more great aviation shots online and in our weekly tablet edition:

flightglobal.com/flight-international

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Year-on-year predicted fall in passengers at Heathrow airport for April; the Covid-19 pandemic cut March’s figure by 52%

90%

3

$20m

The week in numbers

US Space Command will launch a trio of smallsats via Virgin Orbit; first flight of 747-based air-launch system is imminent

Value of two contracts from Latin America for Elbit Systems to upgrade Hermes 900 UAVs to the latest configuration

Heathrow Airport

Virgin Orbit

Elbit Systems

Stay up to date with the latest news and analysis from the global aviation and aerospace sector: flightglobal.com/news

NEXT WEEK DIGITAL-ONLYOur fourth non-print edition of the year will look at the AH-64E Apache’s sales prospects, after Boeing recently delivered its 500th example. Plus why the US Air Force is keen to test electric vertical take-off and landing technology

Use your subscriber login to access Flight International via smartphone, tablet or desktop, alongside our print issues – or contact [email protected] for assistance

Boe

ing

CIVIL SIMULATOR CENSUSNOW AVAILABLE ONLINEwww.flightglobal.com/civilsim

COMMENT


Low and slow

Fear of flying?The airline industry is effectively being held hostage by organisms a tenth

of a micron wide. In future, we may have to live alongside their existence

Easy targets

Despite its platform modernisation efforts, the US Army’s helicopter

inventory is increasingly showing its age.The Boeing AH-64 Apache, CH-47

Chinook and Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk are all decades-old designs, equally enhanced and weighed down by the equipment additions made over time.

With Washington’s focus shifting from counter-terrorism to preparing for a “near peer” battle with China or Russia, the US Army wants a new breed of rotorcraft to deliver extra speed and lethality.

At last, the service’s sprawling Future Vertical Lift effort is narrowing its focus on two key needs: choosing a Black Hawk successor, and replacing its retired Bell OH-58 Kiowa Warrior armed scouts.

Bell and a Sikorsky-Boeing team are respectively promoting tiltrotor and compound helicopter designs as potential Future Long Range Assault Aircraft. Both look futuristic, but also complex and expensive for what is a broad utility role.

Meanwhile, Bell and Sikorsky models are chasing the Future Armed Reconnais-sance Aircraft opportunity. This seeks a compact scout capable of fighting within the narrow confines of future megacities.

But history shows that low- and slow-flying rotorcraft are a big target, even for relatively unsophisticated adversaries. From the booby-trapped landing zones which claimed UH-1 Huey crews in the Vietnam War to “dickers” relaying the flightpath of Black Hawks shot down in Mogadishu, army pilots need no reminder of the dangers which may lie in wait.

With this in mind, the US Army is trialing the use of so-called air launched effects – lightweight weapons and unmanned systems – which will allow its pilots to keep further out of harm’s way.

While the complexity and cost of its future helicopters may yet drive compro-mises in performance and fleet numbers, its aviators will not go into battle alone. ■

In a moment of uncomfortable coincidence, the Indian government opted to declare a

nationwide lockdown on 24 March to counter the spread of coronavirus.

The date is normally commemorated as World Tuberculosis Day, marking the anniversary of Robert Koch’s discovery of the pathogenic tuberculosis bacterium.

Like coronavirus, tuberculosis is a contagious sickness that is spread by expelled droplets and manifests itself as a fever and persistent cough. Unlike corona-virus, it has killed 420,000 people since January and despite being both curable and preventable is still ranked by the World Health Organization as the planet’s deadliest infectious disease.

India happens to be tuberculosis ground zero, but that has not deterred airlines or aircraft manufacturers from piling into the country, where passenger volumes have risen eightfold in just two decades, catapulting it into the upper echelons of the largest civil aviation markets. International carriers have snapped up Indian routes while domestic budget airlines, responsible for some of the largest jet orders on record, have granted mobility to the Indian population in apparent defiance of epidemiological jeopardy.

Air transport has an uneasy relationship with contagious illness. Increasing aircraft range, alliances, codeshares, low-cost and simplified travel all serve to assist the swift carriage not only of passengers but whatever they might harbour. Coronavirus’ ability to

remain covert, hidden in an asymptomatic host, allows it to escape detection more easily than its sister, SARS. The result is an airline industry held hostage by organisms a tenth of a micron in diameter.

But coronavirus’ rapid transmissibility amplifies the effect of its relatively modest case fatality rate. Irrespective of the miserable daily body-counts, the disease is hardly an existential threat. Its real power, perhaps, is its unfamiliarity. Fear of the unknown, of being out of control, is a sensation that causes people, illogically, to feel afraid of flying but not of driving or smoking, despite their demonstrably higher risk.

There is much war-like rhetoric about ‘defeating’ coronavirus, but the truth is that the endgame is more likely to be a grudging acceptance of it, particularly once a vaccine emerges, and that people and businesses will adapt and learn to live alongside it – the way they do with tuberculosis and influenza – as just another of the zillion ways in which nature rewards the fittest with survival. ■

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See Feature P19

See This Week P6

The endgame is more likely to

be a grudging acceptance of

coronavirus, particularly once

a vaccine emerges

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THIS WEEK


AUSTRALIA POWERS UP LOYAL WINGMANDEVELOPMENT The Royal Australian Air Force’s unmanned

Airpower Teaming System – Advanced Development

Programme vehicle achieved power-on status in early April,

shortly after passing a ‘weight on wheels’ milestone and fuse-

lage completion. Boeing Australia expects the loyal wingman

technology demonstrator – unveiled at the Avalon air show in

February 2019 – to be flown for the first time later this year.

FLIGHTGLOBAL HOSTS LATEST WEBINARINSIGHT FlightGlobal’s latest webinar – Aerospace leaders on

surviving a crisis – aired as we went to press on 16 April, with

speakers including former Cessna boss Jack Pelton and

ex- Airbus operations chief Tom Williams. To watch this and

previous webinars on demand, and for details about future

events, visit flightlgobal.com/webinars

LAST 737NG RECIPIENT CONFIRMED DELIVERIES Boeing shipped the last of its commercial

737NGs on 5 January when it handed two -800s to China

Eastern Airlines, ending a production run of the type’s

commercial variants that started in late 1997 and took in some

6,900 deliveries. But the China Eastern jets were not the last

examples built: Dutch carrier KLM received the final commercial

NG to roll-off the Renton line in December 2019.

INDIA AND MOROCCO TARGET HARPOON DEALSWEAPONS Boeing could supply India and Morocco with

AGM-84L Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles in deals worth a

combined $154 million. Ten of the weapons would equip Indian

navy Boeing P-8I maritime patrol aircraft, with the Royal

Moroccan Air Force seeking the same number to arm its

Lockheed Martin F-16s.

CONDOR WEIGHS OPTIONS AS PGL EXITSAIRLINE German leisure carrier Condor is looking at options

for its future ownership, after LOT’s parent Polish Aviation

Group (PGL) withdrew from a proposed acquisition of the

airline. PGL’s deal, disclosed in January, included the repayment

of a €380 million ($418 million) bridging loan to German federal

and state authorities.

SPIRIT OUTLINES FIRST-QUARTER LOSSFINANCIAL Spirit AeroSystems expects to post a $160 million

net loss in the first quarter of 2020, a reverse of the $163 million

profit one year earlier, with revenue falling to $1.1 billion from

$2 billion. Preliminary results released by the Wichita-based

company on 14 April reflect a quarter in which it halted much of

its production and implemented lay-offs and furloughs in

response to the ongoing Boeing 737 Max grounding and

coronavirus pandemic.

WASHINGTON CLEARS LEAP-1C EXPORTSAPPROVAL US export control officials have re-approved GE

Aviation’s application to supply CFM International Leap-1C

engines for China’s Comac C919 narrowbody programme,

months after Washington mulled blocking sales of the

powerplant. GE – a joint venture partner in CFM with Safran –

says the approval will cover a four-year period.

BRIEFING

ANALYSIS MAX KINGSLEY-JONES LONDON

A380 and 747 face worst crisis impactLarge-capacity aircraft have been affected proportionally hardest by groundings as coronavirus hammers industry

Figures show under 10% of global jumbo jet fleet remains in service

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The latest airliner storage data from Cirium reveals that just

2% of the Airbus A380 and under 10% of the Boeing 747 passenger fleets are currently flying, amid the mass groundings implemented by airlines globally.

Cirium fleets data shows that as of 15 April the total number of Airbus and Boeing passenger aircraft in operation with airlines stood at 7,635, as the inactive fleet ballooned up to almost 14,400 aircraft.

Of current types, the data reveals that the smallest active fleet, as a proportion of the overall count, is the A380, with just four of the 239 aircraft with airlines operational – or 1.7%.

According to Cirium, the airlines still operating A380s as of mid-April were China Southern Airlines, Lufthansa and Qatar Airways.

The second lowest widebody operating fleet is the 747, with just 17 aircraft flying – or 9.5% of the fleet in mid-April. Lufthansa is the main operator, while Air China, British Airways and Wamos Air also still have aircraft in service.

Unsurprisingly, the best per-forming widebodies are the latest generation types, the A350 and

787, with 36.3% and 37.4% of their respective fleets still active.

From a narrowbody point of view, the smallest operating fleet is that of the 757, with just 18% in service (71 aircraft). Only a third of the A320ceo-family fleet is flying, compared with two-fifths of the A320neo fleet.

Perhaps a factor of the entire 737 Max fleet being grounded prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the 737NG active fleet is at over 45%. Totalling more than 2,900 aircraft, it is the largest single fleet by type that is currently in service. The combined tally of the A320ceo/neo is at a similar level.

Cirium data reveals that the regions worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic currently appear to be Africa and Europe, where less than 12% and 15% of their respective mainline fleets are operating. In terms of sheer numbers, Europe has the largest glut of inactive jets – over 4,700 out of approximately 5,900 airliners in the region.

Globally, widebody aircraft have been most dramatically affected, with just over a quarter of the worldwide fleet still flying, compared with 37% of the narrowbody total. ■

THIS WEEK


Pandemic’s impact creates a ‘paradox’ for potential NMAThis Week P9

MANUFACTURING DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

Airbus makes deep cuts to productionEvaporating demand for additional capacity and restrictive delivery conditions lead to substantial reduction in output

Airbus is slashing monthly production rates in response

to vanishing customer demand for additional capacity and rising difficulty in delivering newly completed jets as a result of tight government travel restrictions.

The airframer is substantially cutting A330 output in particular, bringing production down to just two aircraft per month, while the A320-family rate will be taken down by a third, from 60 to 40, and the A350 cut from 10 to six.

Oversupply pressure on twin-aisle production was already evident before the coronavirus crisis and Airbus was intending to trim A330 output to 40 aircraft this year.

Airbus delivered three A330s to airline customers – Aer Lingus, Citilink and Delta Air Lines – plus one to the military as a tanker in the first quarter. But the reduced rate could limit A330 production over the remainder of 2020 to just 20 aircraft.

Airbus delivered 162 aircraft in the first quarter of 2019 but, this year managed only 122 in the same period. Thirty-six were delivered in March, down more than a half, with none being hand-ed over on six working days dur-ing the month.

Around 60 jets have been built but not delivered – many of them having to be parked not for customer reasons, the airframer in-sists, but rather severe government restrictions which would either prevent ferry pilots and airline rep-resentatives from travelling or force them into quarantine if they did.

The breakdown of this

Airframer has not said how lower rates will hit each A320-family assembly line, including Hamburg plant

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undelivered inventory has not been disclosed, but a comparison with last year’s production suggests two-thirds are likely to be A320-family aircraft.

Airbus has set the lower production rates to give itself some certainty in its planning and workforce management, but it expects to review the figure each month.

Speaking on 8 April, chief ex-ecutive Guillaume Faury was unable to estimate when rates would be restored to previous lev-els but said he thought the crisis would “probably be a long one”.

The airframer has already been taking steps to reinforce liquidity and adjust operations at certain plants, as governments put measures in place to contain the outbreak.

Faury says the production rate cuts are intended to provide the “best balance” between the effects of the downturn and customers’ appetite for aircraft, and that the impact on personnel is currently being managed through the flexibility Airbus has with short-term measures such as holiday considerations.

The airframer has yet to disclose exactly how the A320-family rate cuts will be implemented across its four final

assembly sites at Hamburg, Mobile, Tianjin, and Toulouse.

But Faury stresses that work will not be stopped at any of the plants and that development work on aircraft variants – such as the long-range A321XLR that is due for introduction in 2023 – will continue.

EASING PRESSURE Production rate cuts, however, are likely to ease immediate pressure on the A321neo programme, which has been suffering industrial delays and late deliveries as Airbus wrestles with certain interior configura-tion complexities. They will also push back implementation of a new A321neo assembly line at Toulouse, in place of A380 facilities. Airbus says it has “paused” development of the new line but will “reconnect to the plans when rates pick up”.

Assembly of the A220, carried out at Montreal and Mobile, has yet to be affected. Faury says the crisis has “hit a bit later” in the USA and Canada, where the twinjet is built, and the airframer is still evaluating its assumptions for the programme. Airbus indicated in March that the A220 was showing “above average utilisation” due to lower traffic

density on a number of routes.Faury says that the process is

complicated by a “dynamic” situation in Quebec, with A220 production ramp-up making a stabilised rate “more difficult” to determine compared with the air-framer’s mature programmes.

“We are in constant dialogue with customers and supply chain partners as we are all going through these difficult times together. We are actively adapting our production to their new situ-ation and working on operational and financial mitigation meas-ures to face reality,” he adds.

Airbus took net orders for 290 aircraft in the first quarter, after 66 cancellations. It recorded cancellations of 15 A350s from LATAM and Kuwait Airways as well as four A330neos from lessor Avolon during March, although it secured a firm agreement for 10 A350s from an undisclosed client.

The airframer’s order figures also show that it secured a deal with lessor AerCap for 50 single-aisle jets, comprising 25 A320neos and 25 A321neos.

Faury says Airbus has not yet experienced many cancellations directly as a result of the corona-virus situation, but stresses that orders will not be “the name of the game” for several months. ■

“We are all going

through these difficult

times together. We

are actively adapting”Guillaume Faury Chief executive, Airbus

THIS WEEK


Boeing removed 313 aircraft from its backlog in March

because of the combined impact of the corona virus pandemic, accounting adjustments, and 150 737 Max cancellations – includ-ing newly disclosed terminations from Brazil’s Gol and Czech car-rier Smartwings.

Over the month, Boeing re-ceived 31 new aircraft orders – including 18 for military conver-sion programmes – resulting in a net impact of 282 aircraft re-moved from the backlog.

The 150 Max cancellations include 34 aircraft for Gol, five for Smartwings, and 36 for undis-closed customers.

An additional 75 aircraft are accounted for in a previously announced cancellation from lessor Avolon.

OPEN GOLBrazilian low-cost carrier Gol says it has reached an agreement with Boeing on cash compensa-tion for the 737 Max grounding, including the reduction of its order book from 129 to 95 aircraft.

“Gol remains fully committed to the 737 Max as the core of its fleet,” says the carrier’s chief ex-ecutive Paulo Kakinoff.

During March Boeing removed a further 163 aircraft – including 139 Max jets – from its backlog to comply with so-called “ASC 606” accounting requirements. The company still holds con-tracts with customers for the sale of those aircraft, but has less confidence the orders will close.

Boeing says the 150 Max cancellations partly reflect its own efforts to ease the immense pressure it faces to deliver delayed 737s.

“These adjustments remove near-term pressure on Boeing’s skyline, providing more flexi-bility to deliver on the more than 4,000 Max airplanes that are in the backlog, and protecting the value of the Max family,” says the airframer.

SALES JON HEMMERDINGER BOSTON

Boeing suffers as airlines axe Max jetsAirframer removes more than 300 aircraft from backlog but maintains that alterations will ease pressure on narrowbody

Boeing says the March results also reflect the impact of the corona virus crisis, which has hammered airlines, leading to the grounding of thousands of jets.

“The airline industry is confronting the Covid-19 pan-demic and the unprecedented impacts on air travel,” Boeing says. “We are working closely with our customers, many of whom are facing significant fi-

nancial pressures, to review their fleet plans and make ad-justments where appropriate.”

Boeing adds that it “continues to adjust its orderbook to adapt to lower-than-planned 737 Max production in the near term”.

Boeing’s 31 new aircraft orders in March included 12 787s, one 767 Freighter and 18 737NG-based P-8 Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft. The 12 787s

were conversion of tentative commitments by Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways.

“Overall, we continue to have a large and diverse order backlog of more than 5,000 jets across our airplane family,” Boeing says.

That backlog now stands at 5,049 units – down from 5,351 at the end of February, and from 5,406 at the end of 2019, the air-framer’s figures show. ■

ANALYSIS MAX KINGSLEY-JONES LONDON

Solid first quarter for Airbus while rival’s struggles continueThere were mixed fortunes for the

two mainline jet manufacturers

during the first quarter of 2020,

but the overall trend was in the

wrong direction amid a declining

economic outlook.

Buoyed by a strong start

to the year, Airbus ended the

quarter with 290 net orders

and 122 deliveries. Toulouse’s

performance was aided by

keeping cancellations to just

66 aircraft.

Boeing, on the other hand,

continued to suffer the effects

of the 737 Max grounding,

which hampered its delivery

performance and stymied

single-aisle sales.

This meant it shipped just

50 aircraft in total during the

first three months of the year,

putting the OEMs’ combined

tally at 172 deliveries.

For Seattle, a calamitous

situation with respect to orders

was reflected in cancellations

in almost every one of the

airframer’s product lines – but

concentrated on the Max.

As a result, despite gross sales

of 49 aircraft, overall net orders

for the quarter were in the red to

the tune of 147 aircraft.

However, the company has

also rowed back from another

160 orders under “ASC 606”

accounting requirements.

All told, Boeing ended the

first quarter with a negative net

order tally of 307 aircraft.

This drove down the overall

mainline jet order tally for the

quarter to negative 17 aircraft.

At the end of the quarter,

Airbus and Boeing’s combined

order backlog stood at about

13,000 aircraft, with Airbus in

charge on 58% market share

(7,650 aircraft).

The Boeing move potentially

sidelines a weaker chunk of

the orderbook, but the grim

economic outlook caused by

the coronavirus pandemic

indicates that this is likely to

be just the start.

While a backlog representing

more than seven years of

production looks ostensibly

healthy, there is growing

concern at both airframers over

the likely level of orderbook

restructuring that will come

as their customers inevitably

respond to the global crisis. ■

Airbus and Boeing deliveries and orders: Q1 2020Deliveries Cancellations Net orders Backlog

Airbus

A220 8 -16 42 529A320ceo 5 0 0 61A320neo 91 -29 248 6,159A330ceo 2 0 0 36A330neo 2 -4 -4 287A350 14 -17 4 569A380 0 0 0 9Total 122 -66 290 7,650Boeing*

737NG 5 0 18 53737 Max 0 -191 -191 4,354747 0 0 0 17767 10 0 2 86777 6 -1 -1 67777X 0 0 0 309787 29 -4 25 542Total 50 -196 -147 5,428Grand total 172 -262 143 13,078Backlog at 31 March 2020. *Boeing data excludes additional 160 orders (141 737, 4 747, 14 777 and 1 787) removed from backlog to comply with ASC 606 accounting requirements. This, plus an additional 219 orders previously removed due to ASC 606, reduces backlog to 5,049 aircraft. Data includes corporate and military versions. Source: Manufacturers/Flight International analysis

THIS WEEK


Top 10 tie-ups that never happened…News Focus P10

The aerospace industry down-turn and Boeing’s financial

position have raised fresh ques-tions about its likelihood of de-veloping the long-stalled New Mid-market Airplane (NMA).

Analysts still think the NMA could be a winner, predicting that the current downturn will even-tually drive up demand for such jets. However, a confluence of factors have placed fresh pres-sure on the programme.

“This crisis is raising questions about Boeing’s ability to proceed with the NMA,” says Michel Merluzeau, analyst with consul-tancy AIR. “You can’t really gam-ble the future of the organisation on a new programme at this time.”

Teal Group analyst Richard Aboulafia, meanwhile, sees the NMA as a “paradox”.

“This crisis increases the need to do it, but decreases the likeli-hood [Boeing] will,” he says.

Boeing declines to comment about the status of the NMA pro-ject, saying its focus remains on returning the 737 Max to service.

“Our team continues to study the market and develop plans for future commercial airplanes, in-cluding taking a step back and re-assessing our commercial product development strategy, building on the work we have done as part of the NMA design and production system analysis,” Boeing adds.

The company has talked of a mid-market aircraft since at least the early part of last decade.

As previously conceived, the composite-winged jet would carry up to 270 passengers, fly 4,000-5,000nm (7,400-9,300km) and enter service around mid-decade. It would cover parts of the market occupied by both the 757 and 767.

The project stalled amid the 737 Max grounding, which took effect in March 2019, and Boeing chief executive David Calhoun said in January that Boeing was conducting a fresh review of the NMA.

Meanwhile, Airbus has gained traction with a pair of A321neo variants aimed at that space in the market: the 4,000nm-range

A321LR and the 4,700nm-range A321XLR, launched last June and due to arrive in 2023.

But the industry is different now than it was just weeks ago. The coronavirus pandemic has caused airlines to slash opera-tions, ground aircraft, lay off staff and cancel orders.

WIDEBODY SWITCHAboulafia thinks the downturn may actually expand demand for mid-market aircraft, giving Air-bus a stranglehold on the seg-ment, at least in the short term.

He suspects airlines will trans-fer from widebodies to lower-cost, smaller-capacity A321neos.

“People can’t get rid of wide-bodies fast enough, and the A321neo is a great widebody replacement,” he says. “Even more so now.”

But these factors also bode well for the NMA, which Merluzeau calls a “slam dunk” opportunity: “It will do extremely well for North American carriers and on short overwater routes,” he says.

But while future sales pros-pects may be good, Boeing’s finan-cial position may limit its scope for action. At the end of March, fi-nancial analysts estimated Boeing had roughly $30 billion, perhaps less, in cash and liquidity.

Those funds should see it through to the end of the year, and there remains the possibility of a US government bailout.

This combination of factors – straightened means, weak de-mand and the Max – could all push Boeing to shelve the NMA.

Merluzeau says Boeing might instead focus on developing a more-critical project: a future single-aisle (FSA) aircraft to eventually replace the 737 Max.

The airframer will need an all-new narrowbody by the early 2030s to compete with Airbus’s next single-aisle.

He says questions remain as to whether or not the NMA is a “must-have” or “nice-to-have” air-craft for Boeing, but emphasises that the FSA undoubtedly falls into the must-have category. ■

STRATEGY JON HEMMERDINGER BOSTON

Pandemic’s impact creates a ‘paradox’ for potential NMAAnalysts say New Mid-market Airplane could be success if airlines downsize – but can Seattle afford programme? M

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Demand for 757 replacement has driven development

NEWS FOCUS


Shortly after the merger of Ray-theon and United Technolo-

gies closed on 3 April, another foundered as suppliers Hexcel and Woodward announced that the coronavirus outbreak had scuppered their planned union.

While there have been many significant marriages in aerospace in the past quarter of a century – Boeing-McDonnell Douglas and the unification of French, German and Spanish champions to form EADS – dozens never get that far: here’s our Top 10 of mergers that never were.

1. Textron-Bombardier

Shares at both companies jumped early this year on reports in the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere that US-based Textron was poised to bid for Bombar-dier’s business aviation division, all that was left of the Canadian firm’s aerospace interests after a raft of sell-offs. However, Bom-bardier has since chosen a differ-ent route, agreeing a sale of its rail business to Alstom of France, a deal scheduled to close in the first half of 2021.

2. EADS-BAE Systems

Steering a merger between the European aerospace giant and the UK defence house was first on the to-do list – and would have been the enduring legacy of Tom End-ers, after the German industrialist took over as chief executive of EADS in 2012. Dominant in civil airliners and helicopters, EADS was not a big hitter in defence, and Enders was keen on BAE’s strong position with the Pentagon. The merger was effectively stamped on at the 11th hour by German Chan-cellor Angela Merkel, who was worried about a dilution of EADS’s position as defence contractor of choice to Berlin.

3. Hawker Beechcraft-Superior

Aviation

Back in 2012, a troubled Hawker Beechcraft, then in bankruptcy

ACQUISITIONS MURDO MORRISON LONDON

Top 10 tie-ups that never happened…Many companies have built their strength by joining forces with competitors – but some mergers didn’t quite make it

protection, had been in talks with Beijing-based Superior Aviation about a $1.8 billion sale of the business. Despite a final agree-ment being “imminent”, the Chinese and the Americans could not agree terms, and, two years later, the company (minus its Hawker jet line-up) was acquired by Textron, owner of its Wichita neighbour and rival Cessna.

4. GE-Honeywell

Shortly after the creation of EADS in 2000, another mega-merger was being hatched on the other side of the Atlantic. In early 2001, legend-ary General Electric chairman Jack Welch was reportedly keen to re-tire with a bang, by joining forces with fellow US giant Honeywell in a $42 billion deal. While both companies were major aerospace players, their empires spanned everything from household appli-ances to air conditioning units. The merger was approved by US anti-trust authorities but thwarted by the European Commission on competition fears.

5. EADS-Finmeccanica

A decade before Tom Enders’ bid to buy BAE Systems, there had been talks concerning Italian in-dustrial house Finmeccanica be-coming part of the Franco- German group. However, two years of negotiations collapsed in 2002. Finmeccanica – now Leon-ardo – instead grew through

mergers of its own, buying out GKN’s UK share of AgustaWest-land (2004) and US firm DRS Technologies (2008).

6. BAE Systems-Boeing

(or Lockheed Martin)

In the early 2000s, BAE Systems saw a merger with one of the US giants as key to gaining a bigger footprint in the world’s largest defence market. However, in 2004, new Boeing chief executive Harry Stonecipher made clear he had “no interest in buying BAE Systems”, because it was too ver-tically integrated and involved in non-aligned activities, such as shipbuilding. Previously, reports had circulated that BAE had been in talks with Lockheed Martin about a merger, which again came to nought.

7. Dassault-Aerospatiale

France’s Aerospatiale was merged with its counterparts in Germany and Spain to form EADS in 2000, but the company – which owned the French “share” of Airbus – was not the only significant air-framer in the country. There was also Dassault Aviation, maker of Falcon business aircraft and France’s only producer of military jets. Although Aerospatiale had a substantial stake in Dassault, which was passed to EADS, con-trol ultimately remained with the family of chairman Serge Das-sault, son of founder Marcel.

8. Safran-Thales

Another mega French merger was on the cards in the noughties. Safran – created when the Snecma group took over defence electron-ics company Sagem – had been mooted for a further fusionne-ment, this time with Thales. How-ever, in 2007, Thales chairman Denis Ranque told Les Echos that the climate was not right to pur-sue further merger talks. The French government, under new President Nicolas Sarkozy, which owned shares of about 30% in both companies, was also reluc-tant to create an industrial giant on the scale envisaged.

9. Lockheed Martin-Northrop

Grumman

As both their names make clear, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are the products of a wave of mid-1990s consolidation in the USA. But in 1997 a further merger looked on the cards, with Lockheed poised to acquire Northrop for $11.6 billion, sub-suming the latter and leaving just three major defence contractors to the Pentagon alongside Boeing and Raytheon. It was a merger too far for the US government, which opposed it on anti-trust grounds; Lockheed pulled the plug in 1998.

10. BAE Systems-Rolls-Royce

While never actually moving be-yond the realms of the theoretical, a merger of the UK’s two big aero-space and defence champions has been a discussion item among commentators for many years. Rolls-Royce’s unique capabilities in defence means the government would almost certainly never per-mit a foreign takeover of the propulsion giant, but uniting it with BAE would make the Derby-based company less exposed to one-off internal calamities, such as expensive technical hitches with an engine programme, or macro-economic impacts – such as the coronavirus crisis. Do not rule it out. ■

Hawk maker BAE Systems was a target of A400M builder EADS

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Brussels reveals ‘hibernation’ measuresAir Transport P13

COVER STORY

The first tranche of passenger airlines have reached agree-

ments with the US government to unlock part of the $2 trillion in emergency funding made availa-ble under the country’s CARES Act response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Southwest Airlines, which will take $3.2 billion in payroll sup-port, was the first to announce a deal on 14 April, closely followed by American Airlines, which will receive $5.8 billion.

Dallas-based Southwest says it will receive $2.3 billion in di-rect payroll support and nearly $1 billion in loans to protect its 60,000 employees until at least 30 September. The carrier says the loan is expected to have a 10-year term with low interest rates and may be repaid at any time prior to maturity. It will include approximately 2.6 million war-rants issued to the US Department of the Treasury. These give the government the right to buy equity in the carrier at a pre-set price and time.

“As we are now in the imple-mentation phase of the CARES Act, we applaud the quick action by the US Department of the Treasury to infuse liquidity into the economy and try to keep businesses open and people on the job – and that certainly in-cludes the airlines and our employees,” says Southwest chief executive Gary Kelly.

American, meanwhile, will take a direct grant of $4.1 billion, and a low-interest rate loan of $1.7 billion. In addition, the Fort Worth-based operator will apply for an additional Treasury loan of approximately $4.75 billion.

“The support our government has entrusted to us carries im-mense responsibility and an obli-gation that American Airlines is privileged to undertake,” says chief executive Doug Parker. “We are elated that this programme will enable us to continue to em-ploy and pay our team while they fly through this period of de-pressed consumer demand.”

WIDESPREAD TAKE-UPOther carriers have rapidly fol-lowed suit. Alaska Airlines Group will take $992 million – a $267 million loan and $725 mil-lion in grants – plus will apply for another $1.1 billion loan. Delta Air Lines will take $5.4 bil-lion ($1.6 billion/$3.8 billion), JetBlue Airways $935 million ($250 million/$685 million), and United Airlines $5 billion ($1.5 billion/$3.5 billion). Both the Delta and United deals include sizeable warrants.

Additional carriers named by the Treasury as applicants cover virtually all the remaining big players in the US airline industry. These include: Allegiant Air, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Air-lines, and SkyWest Airlines.

“Conversations continue with other airlines regarding their po-tential participation,” says US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. “Treasury is also working to review and approve applications for smaller passen-ger air carriers as quickly as pos-sible and will provide further guidance for cargo carriers and contractors very soon. We look forward to working with the air-lines to finalise the necessary agreements and disburse funds as quickly as possible.”

The CARES Act, which is worth a total of about $2 trillion, sets aside almost $60 billion in loans and grants to US airlines and related businesses that have seen their revenues decline drastically due to the coronavi-rus pandemic.

All US airlines have taken dramatic measures to preserve cash as passenger demand fell off a cliff in March, for both do-mestic and international travel.

Load factors have gone from about 80% in January to just over 11% for the week ended 5 April, according to industry group Air-lines for America (A4A).

The number of commercial flights, which topped 111,000 daily in early January, fell to just 29,800 daily during the week ended 11 April, A4A adds.

“US airlines – both passenger and cargo – have seen their strong financial health deterio-

rate at an unprecedented and unsustainable pace since early March,” A4A says.

“The safety and well-being of the travelling public and airline employees is the top priority of all US airlines, but the economic impact of this global health cri-sis cannot be overstated.”

COMPANY PLEDGEAccepting the government assistance comes with signifi-cant strings attached, however. Airlines must pledge not to lay off or furlough staff, or reduce hourly pay rates, until at least 30 September. They must also stop share repurchase plans until 30 September 2021, and executive pay is limited until 2022.

Reports in mid-April said the deal includes conditions that while 70% of the money paid out to airlines would be given out-right, the remaining 30% would have to be paid back. In addition, the government will gain warrants giving it the ability to acquire eq-uity in carriers.

Meanwhile, several airlines have asked the Department of Transportation for exemptions to a requirement that they maintain “minimum service” as a condi-tion of receiving the aid.

The carriers argue that operat-ing even a skeleton network with single-digit load factors is neither reasonable nor practicable, and will eat into cash reserves. ■

FINANCE PILAR WOLFSTELLER SAN FRANCISCO

US carriers secure bailout assistanceDeals agreed will unlock billions in payroll support as part of Washington’s CARES Act response to coronavirus crisis

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AIR TRANSPORT


Investigators have determined that both pilots of an EasyJet

Airbus A319 mistakenly selected the wrong intersection during take-off performance calculations at Nice, resulting in less runway distance being available than the crew had expected.

The crew believed they had calculated take-off performance for runway 04R based on a depar-ture from intersection B3 – the most limiting case.

But the UK Air Accidents In-vestigation Branch (AAIB) found that the crew had inadvertently selected intersection Q3, virtual-ly the whole runway length, for the calculation.

The aircraft was ultimately cleared to depart from intersection A3, which should have offered an additional 316m (1,040ft) margin of runway compared with a B3 departure. But the Q3 miscalcula-tion actually meant the A3 depar-ture reduced the take-off distance margin by 385m – and would have reduced it by over 700m if the B3 intersection had been used.

“At lift-off the [captain] noted that the departure end of the

Nigerian investigators have dis-closed that a Turkish Airlines

Airbus A330-300 suffered damage after travelling partially off the runway for a distance of some 400m (1,300ft) following a land-ing at Port Harcourt.

The aircraft (TC-LOL), arriving from Istanbul at night on 30 December last year, had been established on the localiser for runway 21 and was stable during its approach.

Its crew had flown the aircraft manually from about 400ft, says the Nigerian Accident Investiga-tion Bureau. The captain, who was flying, had 694h on type.

INQUIRY DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

Pilots made identical selection mistakeCaptain and first officer of EasyJet A319 both used wrong intersection at Nice for take-off performance calculations

INCIDENT DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

Off-centre landing damaged Turkish A330’s tyres

runway was closer than he would have expected but did not perceive any other performance issues,” says the inquiry into the incident, which occurred on 29 August last year.

It states reduced thrust had been used for the take-off roll and that, as the situation emerged, the captain did not feel there was a need to increase power.

Crucially, the AAIB found, both pilots made the same mis-selection of the Q3 rather than the B3 intersection. As a result, it says, the take-off performance cross-check was “invalidated” and the error was undetected.

“The flightcrew considered that the software user-interface and data presentation was a factor in the intersection selection error being made,” it adds.

Data entry on the electronic flightbag application was “clumsy and often requires re- entering”, according to pilot testimony to the inquiry. For Nice, it says, the B3 and Q3 intersections are easy to mis-select as they are adjacent.

The captain involved has since reinforced departure error brief-ings and reviewed intersection and performance implications.

EasyJet has been working on updating performance software,

the inquiry says, to put greater em-phasis on graphic rather than text representation of runway data.

Airbus had also been develop-ing enhanced take-off monitoring for A320s and A330s, using a version of take-off surveillance introduced on the A350 the previous year.

This function, known as TOS2, checks to confirm the air-craft is travelling on the intended runway and that the performance calculations are compatible with available distance.

The aircraft (G-EZBI) involved in the incident, however, was not TOS2-capable. ■

Preliminary findings show the aircraft landed to the right of the centreline, touching down about 612m from the threshold and almost immediately travelling

over the edge with its right-hand main landing-gear. It returned to the runway around 400m further on, and reached the centreline after another 440m.

The incident resulted in scuff-ing of two main-gear tyres and the deflation of a third, plus denting to inboard flaps and the right-hand Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engine fan cowl.

Three runway edge lights were also damaged in the incident. Meteorological condi-tions at the time included calm winds and 2.7nm (5km) visibili-ty due to haze.

None of the 295 occupants of the aircraft were injured, and the investigation has yet to publish its final conclusions regarding the circumstances surrounding the event. ■Widebody was flown manually from 400ft during a stable approach

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Cross-check of runway length was ‘invalidated’ by crew making same error

AIR TRANSPORT


Jolly Green II endures battle against the elementsDefence P14

Brussels Airlines has given an insight into the complexity as-

sociated with the enforced long-term parking of its aircraft fleet during the coronavirus crisis.

It has newly extended the grounding until at least 15 May, and over 50 aircraft in its all-Air-bus fleet are being sealed and parked at the Belgian hub, using taxiway capacity, with minimal airlift on standby for repatriation or necessary freight transport.

“Like the entire worldwide avi-ation and tourism sector, Brussels Airlines is heavily impacted by this unprecedented crisis,” says chief executive Dieter Vranckx.

Preparing aircraft for “hiberna-tion”, says the carrier, requires extensive work.

Some 400 man-hours are need-ed to deal with an Airbus A330, because the manufacturer has outlined specific instructions to

EasyJet has agreed a deal with Airbus to push back the ar-

rival of 24 aircraft due for deliv-ery in 2020-2022.

The move follows pressure from EasyJet founder and its largest shareholder Stelios Haji- Ioannou to cancel or renegotiate an order for 107 Airbus jets – including through the threat of legal action and the removal of board members.

EasyJet’s previous fleet growth strategy envisaged taking delivery of 10 new aircraft in 2020, 12 in 2021 and two in 2022, but it will now receive no new aircraft in 2021 and has the option to defer a further five due in 2022.

“Exact dates of future deliver-ies of the deferred aircraft are to

With around 80% of its fleet parked due to the corona-

virus outbreak, Etihad Airways is using the enforced downtime to perform aircraft and cabin main-tenance work.

The Abu Dhabi-based carrier has to date replaced more than 10,000 seat and backrest covers in its cabins, and Etihad vice-president for airframe services Haytham Nasir says the carrier is working closely with its fleet

ensure that the jets are safely stored. “If you think this is a sim-ple task,” says the airline, “you should guess again.”

While there are obvious meas-ures to take, such as covering the engines, the carrier points out that multiple other tasks are necessary

to preserve the aircraft’s condition and make sure it will be ready to resume operations.

Both the economy- and busi-ness-class cabins are protected during storage.

Sunlight exposure can fade or decolour interior fittings, so win-

be agreed in response to the demand environment,” the airline says.

The UK-based low-cost opera-tor can also defer or cancel the leases on 24 jets due for renewal over the next 16 months, giving it “further flexibility” as it ad-justs its fleet strategy to a new operating reality.

“Our industry is facing unprec-edented challenges, which require unprecedented action,” says chief executive Johan Lundgren.

“I am pleased to announce that we have agreed with Airbus to amend our delivery schedule by deferring the purchase of 24 aircraft, providing a significant boost to our cash flow and a vast reduction to our near-term capex programme,” he says. ■

dows need to be taped, while the landing-gear has to be wrapped to prevent both corrosion and – particularly given the season – the risk of birds attempting to nest in the undercarriage bays.

“All our seats are covered as well, to keep them crisp and clean,” the carrier adds.

Even after the aircraft has been stored, it needs attention, testing and monitoring. Tyres are rotated to prevent flat spots developing under the weight of the aircraft.

While virtually all of the car-rier’s 4,200 staff have been tem-porarily laid off, Brussels Air-lines says 30 maintenance personnel are continuing to work full-time to carry out the fleet upkeep. The airline is also working on a resumption strate-gy, stating that it is drawing up plans for a “reduced but stable” programme of flights. ■

STORAGE DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

Brussels reveals ‘hibernation’ measuresEffort to mothball aircraft includes covering engines, taping windows and protecting landing-gear from nesting birds

management team to see if main-tenance checks on some aircraft can be brought forward.

“We are taking every opportu-nity during this time, including product improvement. We do this maintenance to the best standard and the best quality,” he says.

Cirium fleets data indicates that the carrier has 12 passenger aircraft in operation, alongside six Boeing 777 Freighters; Etihad has parked 114 jets. ■

ORDER CIRIUM LONDON

EasyJet defers 24 Airbus jets after Stelios’s threats

MAINTENANCE ALFRED CHUA SINGAPORE

Etihad sets out to use downtime

Around 80% of carrier’s fleet has been grounded due to pandemic

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More than 50 airliners are being sealed and parked at Belgian hub

DEFENCE


DEVELOPMENT CRAIG HOYLE LONDON

‘Best-ever’ F-15 put through its paces in first flight for Qatar

Qatar’s first F-15QA fighter has

performed a 90min flight debut,

with Boeing describing the model

as “the most advanced version”

of the twin-engined type ever

manufactured.

Doha will receive 36 F-15QAs

from next year, under a $6.2

billion contract awarded in 2017.

Boeing is to provide training

for aircrew and maintenance

personnel under a separate deal

signed last year.

Conducted from Lambert

International airport in St Louis,

Missouri, the debut included 9g

turns, while “checks of systems

such as avionics and radar were

also successful”, says Boeing.

“This successful first flight

is an important milestone that

brings our squadrons one step

closer to flying this incredible

aircraft over the skies of Qatar,”

says Colonel Ahmed Al Mansoori,

commander of the Gulf nation’s

F-15 Wing.

Pointing to the Qatari model’s

claimed “best-in-class range

and payload”, Boeing F-15

programme manager Prat Kumar

says: “The advanced F-15QA

not only offers game-changing

capabilities, but is also built

using advanced processes which

make the jet more efficient to

manufacture.”

The company is hopeful of

producing up to 144 examples

of a further F-15EX development,

to replace some of the US Air

Force’s C/D-model fighters. ■

Boeing delivered 35% fewer military aircraft year on year

in the first quarter of 2020.The company handed over 39

aircraft to military customers dur-ing the three months, down from 60 in the same period of 2019.

Production of the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter fell by 12 units, to 16, with this total in-cluding two new-build examples and 14 remanufactured to the same E-model standard.

Ten CH-47 transport helicop-ters were shipped during the first quarter, including one “renewed” airframe; a reduction of one from a year earlier.

Deliveries of F/A-18-series combat aircraft and KC-46A Pegasus tankers each fell from seven to five, while P-8A mari-time patrol aircraft shipments were unchanged, at three. No F-15s were shipped, against four last year.

Despite the overall reduction, the new decade’s first three months bettered Boeing’s weak-est quarterly performance record-ed in 2019. Its April-June total

last year was only 36 aircraft – in part as a result of production problems with the US Air Force’s 767-derived KC-46A.

Boeing’s production facilities were not affected by the corona-virus outbreak for most of the

period: its Puget Sound-area sites remained open until 25 March.

The company resumed work on the KC-46A and P-8A pro-grammes in the area on 13 April, with the US Department of De-fense having given quarantine

exemptions to manufacturers of military equipment. Production work was also suspended in Phil-adelphia, Pennsylvania, for two weeks from 3 April, affecting out-put of the CH-47 and Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor. ■

The US Air Force’s (USAF’s) new combat search and res-

cue helicopter, the Sikorsky HH-60W Jolly Green II, has

completed a month-long battery of extreme conditions trials.

Concluded on 2 April, the ac-tivity was performed within a test

chamber at the McKinley Climat-ic Lab at Eglin AFB in Florida.

The Black Hawk derivative was baked under bright lights, which brought the air tempera-ture around the aircraft to 49°C (120°F), and chilled to -51°C.

It also was blasted with 39kt (72km/h) winds and 130USgal/min of simulated rain, says the USAF.

“The crew would execute their pre-flight checklists and perform tasks to see if the extreme condi-tions affected any of the avionics, electronics, engine and other sys-tems,” the service says. “The air-crew performing the procedures were also test subjects themselves.

Their own reactions and move-ments were evaluated in the harsh environments,” it adds.

For example, the service evalu-ated whether pilots could reach all the aircraft controls while wearing thicker and bulkier cold-weather gear.

With this work complete, the HH-60W will return to Sikorsky’s test facility in West Palm Beach, Florida, for further evaluation.

The USAF has so far ordered 22 examples of the HH-60W, from a programme of record for 113 to replace its ageing HH-60G Pave Hawks. A first production aircraft is scheduled for delivery in April 2021. ■

PRODUCTION GARRETT REIM LOS ANGELES

Delivery drop hits Boeing performanceCompany reports 35% fall in first-quarter shipments versus 2019, despite limited disruption at sites from coronavirus

ROTORCRAFT GARRETT REIM LOS ANGELES

Jolly Green II endures battle against the elements

Avionics, electronics and engines were tested in extreme conditions

Debut included

handling checks

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DEFENCE


Camcopter goes extra mile with BoeingDefence P16

Sikorsky’s CH-53K King Stal-lion heavy-lift helicopter has

undergone its first air-to-air refu-elling during testing.

In development for the US Ma-rine Corps (USMC), the rotorcraft completed a 4.5h test over Chesa-peake Bay with a Lockheed Mar-tin KC-130J tanker on 6 April, the US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) says. In particular, the activity included a wake survey test to assess how the helicopter would behave in the “strong, tur-bulent air” behind the tanker.

“These tests were performed at increasing closure rates to ensure the CH-53K can handle the forces on the refuelling probe

Lockheed Martin has secured a $50 million contract to further

update the US Air Force’s (USAF’s) U-2S intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft fleet. The project will incorporate a new avionics suite and mission com-puter, plus modern cockpit dis-plays, the airframer says.

Designed to meet the service’s new open mission systems (OMS) requirement, the replacement computer will allow the U-2S to be integrated “with systems across air, space, sea, land and cyber domains at disparate security levels”, Lockheed says.

Updated displays will “make everyday pilot tasks easier, while enhancing presentation of the data the aircraft collects”, it adds.

“As a proven, agile and reliable aircraft, the U-2S is the most capa-ble high-altitude ISR system in the [USAF] fleet today,” says Irene Helley, Lockheed’s U-2 pro-gramme director. “The Avionics Tech Refresh contract will con-tinue our commitment of provid-ing a premier aircraft.”

Lockheed expects interim fielding to start in mid-2021, with fleet modification work to follow in early 2022. This will see the type become the USAF’s first OMS-compliant fleet, it notes.

Cirium fleets data shows that the USAF has 30 U-2S aircraft currently in service, aged be-tween 30 and 52 years. ■

when contacting the drogue,” says NAVAIR.

“It was very successful, prov-ing it is a long-range vertical logistic workhorse,” says Colonel Jack Perrin, H-53 heavy lift heli-copters programme manager.

Aerial refuelling will extend the nonstop flight range of the CH-53K. The three-engined type has an unrefuelled mission radius of 110nm (203km) with a 12,200kg (27,000lb) load.

The King Stallion’s 16,300kg maximum external lift capability will be the largest for a US military helicopter, enabling it to carry two heavily armoured Humvees simultaneously.

PROCUREMENT

Luxembourg’s Atlas makes debutLuxembourg’s lone A400M tactical transport made a 5h flight

debut from Airbus Defence & Space’s San Pablo final assembly

site in Seville, Spain, on 13 April. The airlifter (MSN104/CT-01) is

scheduled for delivery by the end of the second quarter of this year,

its manufacturer says. Once operational, the Luxembourg-owned

asset will be assigned to a joint unit along with the Belgian Air

Component’s eventual seven-strong Atlas fleet. Cirium fleets data

indicates that there are 88 A400Ms in current active use with the air

forces of France, Germany, Malaysia, Spain, Turkey and the UK.

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EVALUATION GARRETT REIM LOS ANGELES

NAVAIR aerial refuelling trial stretches CH-53K endurance4.5h flight brings rotorcraft closer to initial operational test phase, after technical delays

The introduction of the new type has been delayed by a num-ber of technical problems, in-cluding issues with its engines re-ingesting exhaust gas, and main gearboxes that were not durable enough.

The USMC’s programme of record calls for the acquisition of 200 CH-53Ks, but the service last month announced plans to reduce its number of heavy-lift helicopter squadrons as part of a strategic reset.

NAVAIR says it is aiming to launch initial operational test and evaluation of the CH-53K next year, with first fleet deploy-ment targeted for 2023-2024. ■

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Wake survey test assessed helicopter’s performance

behind KC-130J tanker

UPGRADE GREG WALDRON SINGAPORE

Avionics refresh will keep ageing U-2 fleet on top

DEFENCE


Boeing has demonstrated the ability to use Schiebel S-100

Camcopter unmanned air vehi-cles (UAVs) to resupply soldiers with small cargo packages, with the activity performed during a recent US Army exercise.

The S-100 is typically used for civilian surveying or military re-connaissance work. Boeing estab-lished a marketing contract for the rotorcraft with its Austrian devel-oper in 2009.

The demonstration was related to the US Army’s wide-ranging Future Vertical Lift modernisation programme, Boeing says. A team flew the S-100 on 31 missions, de-livering a combined total of 726kg (1,600lb) of “simulated blood and ammunition” via a cargo winch.

Missions were flown autono-mously, with a typical cargo weight of around 45kg, Boeing says. With a maximum take-off weight of 200kg, the UAV can

CAPABILITY GARRETT REIM LOS ANGELES

Camcopter goes extra mile with BoeingCompany proves S-100’s ability to conduct autonomous battlefield resupply missions with 45kg payload for US Army

carry a 34kg payload over 6h, or can operate at reduced endurance with an up to 50kg load.

The demonstration flights were conducted from 2-12 March as part of the US Army’s Expedi-tionary Warrior Experiment at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Boeing says it has been devel-oping a concept for unmanned battlefield cargo delivery for sev-eral years, with a focus on “the last tactical mile”.

The company is still develop-ing its UAV cargo offering for US military services.

“Boeing Global Services is looking to offer this capability as a service,” it says. “For this dem-onstration, the S-100 was a good fit. We are looking at several ven-dors, along with our own inter-nal vertical take-off and landing developments. Sales leaders are also engaged with the army and other service branches, like the

US Navy and Marine Corps, to shape future contract requests for this type of service.”

The S-100 has previously been used with surveillance equip-ment such as an electro-optical/ infrared camera or synthetic aperture radar rather than cargo. Boeing has offered the rotorcraft as a maritime patrol UAV that could be flown from the US Na-vy’s littoral combat ships.

Schiebel, meanwhile, has pitched the S-100 for a wide vari-ety of uses, including power line, forestry and agricultural surveys, as well as aerial cinematography.

The UAV has also been sold by the company as a military intelligence, surveillance and re-connaissance platform for mari-time and land-based roles. Cus-tomers have included Australia, China, Italy, Jordan and the Unit-ed Arab Emirates. ■See Feature P19

The US military has conduct-ed a joint demonstration in

the Arabian Gulf to prove the ability of Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters to team with naval assets when en-gaging surface targets.

During the activity, US Navy (USN) vessels including patrol boats and a destroyer identified simulated targets for US Army

Apaches operating from the deck of the Expeditionary Sea Base ship USS Lewis B Puller.

“These aircraft significantly increase the precision lethality of our joint maritime forces,” says USN Captain Peter Mirisola, adding that the combination “greatly enhances our ability to expand reconnaissance and at-tack capability.”

DEPLOYMENT GREG WALDRON SINGAPORE

Apache shows precision in maritime target tests

The potential threat of swarms of small boats operated by Irani-an forces are a concern for the US military in the narrow con-fines of the Strait of Hormuz.

In March, a separate demon-stration involved naval assets identifying simulated targets for a US Air Force Lockheed Martin AC-130W gunship. ■

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D o w n l o a d t h e 2 0 2 0Wo r l d A i r Fo r c e s R e p o r t

w w w. f l i g h t g l o b a l . c o m / wa fin association with:

AH-64Es operated from deck of USS Lewis B Puller

Unmanned rotorcraft is typically equipped with surveillance payload

BUSINESS AVIATION


Vertical integrationSpecial Report P19

Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft developer

Transcend Air is hoping to secure its first round of private invest-ment before year-end, which it says should generate enough funding to build and fly the first full-scale prototype of its six-seat, tiltwing Vy 400 air taxi.

Peter Schmidt, co-founder and chief operating officer of the Bos-ton, Massachusetts-based firm, says the coronavirus outbreak has delayed the funding effort but has not dampened investors’ enthusi-asm for the single-engined Vy 400.

He describes the fly-by-wire air-craft as a “unique concept” for short-haul, city-to-city travel, de-signed to operate from traditional land-based heliports, and from water – docks and marinas for ex-ample – on bespoke, portable, barge-based landing pads.

“Waterfronts are often under-utilised public assets and within walking distance of many busi-ness centres,” says Schmidt.

This will be a key benefit for a Vy 400 air taxi service as it cuts the cost and time of door-to-door travel significantly, he notes.

Schmidt envisages a huge mar-ket for the Vy 400 of “thousands of units a year globally”, leading to a “several billion-dollar oppor-tunity for operators”.

CONCEPT KATE SARSFIELD LONDON

Transcend tilting for Vy 400 investmentStart-up envisions huge potential for vertical take-off and landing air taxi, as it readies funding drive for first prototype

Swedish cabin climate special-ist CTT Systems is to supply

its in-flight humidification (IFH) system on an Airbus ACJ320neo and a Boeing BBJ Max 9 as part of two green completion projects for the VIP narrowbodies.

Comlux is preparing the ACJ-320neo for outfitting following its arrival in Indianapolis late last year, while AMAC Aerospace is scheduled to take delivery of the BBJ Max 9 at its Basel mainte-

CABIN KATE SARSFIELD LONDON

CTT brings right atmosphere to VIP narrowbodies

The Vy 400 is designed to dis-rupt both the VIP helicopter and the city-to-city business travel markets. Powered by a single 1,700shp (1,300kW) Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67F tur-boshaft, the Vy 400 is projected to have a cruise speed of 350kt (650km/h), a range of up to 400nm (725km) and a full-fuel payload of 570kg (1,250lb).

However, the design appears more comparable to the Leonar-do Helicopters AW609 civil tiltrotor. This has been years in development, but when it ar-rives will offer a cruise speed of 275kt and a 700nm range, with a VIP cabin capable of holding up to eight passengers.

In addition, Transcend’s

claimed cruise speed would make it faster than technology demonstrators from Airbus Heli-copters and Sikorsky: their re-spective X3 and X2 compound rotorcraft achieved speeds of 255kt and 260kt during tests. Meanwhile, a high-speed single-engined turboprop like the Daher TBM 940 cruises at 330kt.

Featuring a BRS-supplied whole airframe parachute system for added safety, the Vy 400 will be available in two configura-tions: a $3.5 million “airliner” variant for scheduled and charter passenger transport, and a $6 mil-lion VIP model, dubbed the Re-served Edition, aimed at private owners and corporate operators.

A key driver of Transcend’s

design philosophy is simplicity, Schmidt says. “Despite the nov-elty of the VTOL configuration, our aircraft is actually the ulti-mate refinement of the titling concept that has been flown successfully by several aircraft, perhaps most notably by the Can-adair CL-84 experimental VTOL aircraft in the 1960s.”

The programme has been funded to date by seed investors, but Transcend hopes to raise $20 million in its first funding round – planned for the second half of the year, if the coronavirus crisis has subsided. This money should be enough to fund the pro-gramme through to first flight of the full-scale Vy 400 prototype, pegged for early 2022.

Two electric-powered one-fifth-scale models have been in flight testing since September 2018, and have demonstrated transition from vertical to hori-zontal flight and undergone hover testing, says Schmidt.

Transcend hopes to partner with an established aircraft man-ufacturer to help develop the pro-gramme and bring the final prod-uct to market. “We are in talks with a number of interested par-ties,” Schmidt says. “Our plan is to certificate and deliver the first aircraft in 2025.” ■

nance and completions facility in the fourth quarter.

CTT says the IFH system gener-ates a relative humidity of 20%, reducing the dry atmosphere in the cabin that can cause fatigue, jet-lag, red eyes, dry throat and dry skin on long-haul flights.

“Without an efficient humidifi-cation system, the VIP cabin air is far more dehydrating than any place on earth – below 5% rela-tive humidity,” CTT claims. ■

Six-seater is intended to operate from heliports and floating docks

BBJ Max 9 (top) will be completed by AMAC Aerospace

Bo

ein

g

Transc

end

Air

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US ARMY AVIATIONSpecial report


CONTENTS

20 Vying for victory UH-60 successors

22 Rapid race In search of next scout

24 Critical capability Smart approach

27 Hard targets UAVs gain resilience

The 2017 retirement of Kiowa Warrior fleet (above) is driving the army’s hunt for a light-attack reconnaissance platform. Air launched

effects will toughen Gray Eagle (below right) in contested airspace. V-280 Valor (below left) offers efficient speed in utility race

US

Arm

y

As they have for centuries, when ground forces today need

speed, reach and carrying capacity, they call in the cavalry.

The US Army is in the midst of an airpower modernisation

to replace and enhance some of its most trusty mounts

VERTICAL INTEGRATION

Gen

eral

Ato

mic

s A

eron

autic

al S

yste

ms

Bel

l



GARRETT REIM LOS ANGELES

With an aggressive timetable to field the replacement for its Black Hawk workhorse, the US Army must now weigh up the pros and cons of two rivals offering speed versus agility

Vying for victory

Sikorsky-Boeing argues combining main rotors and pusher propeller gives SB-1 Defiant an edge, providing unmatched manoeuvrability

Siko

rsky

Just a few weeks after the US Army se-lected the Bell V-280 Valor and Sikor-sky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant as its finalists in the Future Long Range Assault Air-

craft (FLRAA) competition, both teams are jockeying for position, arguing that their ro-torcraft configuration will best replace the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk, a utility

helicopter used in troop transport that en-tered service in 1979.

Bell argues that its tiltrotor V-280 offers the army speed and efficiency that cannot be matched. The Sikorsky-Boeing team contends that the compound SB-1 will give soldiers aerial manoeuvrability and rapid deceleration in the final approach to a landing zone that other aircraft cannot offer.

Both companies say they are leaning on

experience from the legacy fleet of US mili-tary helicopters they have designed and built. The lesson learned? Simplicity makes for easier-to-fix rotorcraft.

FINAL STRETCHThe US Army has been working towards this moment since 2013. In that year, it kicked off the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstra-tion (JMR-TD) programme, a precursor to FLRAA, which funded the development of new rotorcraft designs and prototypes.

The SB-1 and V-280 were designed, built and flown in service of that demonstration programme. AVX Aircraft and Karem Aircraft also participated in the JMR-TD effort, but are not moving onwards.

Now, with two finalists selected, the army wants to move quickly and hand over the FLRAA to its first unit no later than 2030. Both companies are in talks with the service about further refinements to their designs prior to a fly-off competition and production decision.

The FLRAA is intended to have a wide role within the US Army similar to the UH-60 workhorse. The utility rotorcraft will conduct air assault, maritime interdiction, medical evacuation, humanitarian assistance, tactical resupply, and combat search and rescue


US ARMY AVIATIONLong-range assault

❯❯

operations, among other roles.To survive flying into a battle against

advanced foes such as China or Russia – so-called Great Power nations with sophisticated integrated air defence systems – the army wants its next utility rotorcraft to have significantly better performance than the UH-60. The service’s objective cruise speed is

280kt (519km/h). It also wants the aircraft to have an unrefuelled combat radius of 300nm (556km), and a one-way unrefuelled range of at least 2,440nm. The thinking is that speed equals survival, so adversaries will not have time to react.

The V-280 has the advantage when it comes to maximum speed because of its ability to tilt rotors and fly on its wing like a conventional aircraft. While the army’s objec-tive cruise speed is 280kt, in flight demonstra-tions the V-280 has shown it can fly faster than 300kt.

Bell argues that the V-280 is not only fast, but economical at speed. That comes from the ability to generate lift from its wing, but also from the engine selected for the tiltrotor. “We’ve demonstrated the aircraft cruises effi-ciently,” says Terry Horner, director of gov-ernment relations for Bell. “We incorporated the Rolls-Royce engine to get efficiency in the engine because that’s important to making sure that you have the legs to get to the ranges you need to.”

Bell declines to say which R-R turboshaft it is using.

For its part, the Sikorsky-Boeing team says it believes it will be able to demonstrate the SB-1 flying at 250kt this year, meeting the ar-my’s minimum cruise speed requirement. The aircraft reached 140kt in the first quarter of 2020. Progress has been slowed by some testing snags with the propulsion system test-bed, but the companies expect that to be worked out soon.

The Sikorsky-Boeing team believes where the SB-1 really shines is in the last 2-3nm be-fore dropping off troops at a landing zone. The push-propeller on the compound heli-copter can be reversed, which allows the air-craft to brake rapidly.

“You’re able to do this level deceleration from 200kt into and out of ground-effect hover in a half-mile distance,” says Bill Fell, Sikorsky test pilot. “You can keep the speed

on until the very last second, and then stop rapidly and get into that landing zone. You’re able to do it without doing the typical heli-copter flare where you’re bringing the nose 30° up.”

Sikorsky-Boeing adds that the rotorcraft’s combination of main rotors and pusher pro-peller give it more agility in two axes.

“If you try to turn a helicopter quickly, it slows down. This machine has the ability to maintain speed in the turn or you can change the radius of your turn very quickly by using the heave axis or the collective,” says Ed Henderscheid, Boeing test pilot. “That ability to do that close to the ground with a level fu-selage attitude – it’s going to really change the way we penetrate near-peer threats. It’s going to change our tactics and testing techniques and procedures that we use.”

Bell contends that the V-280 showed US Army Level 1 handling requirements in 2019 in flight testing of a series of low-speed pitch, roll and yaw manoeuvres. The company has claimed that makes the tiltrotor as good as or better than the Black Hawk.

LESSONS LEARNEDTo gain an edge on each other on operating costs, both competitors say they are re-exam-ining their legacy aircraft and looking to in-corporate ease-of-maintenance designs into the FLRAA.

Bell says it has learned a lot on the V-280 from the company’s experience maintaining the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey. For example, unlike the rotating engines on the V-22, the V-280’s engines are fixed in a horizontal position and the aircraft relies on pivoting rotors and drive shafts instead.

The engine is also easier to maintain, says Horner. “On the V-22 you have to take the en-gine off to take the proprotor gearbox off,” he says. “On the V-280 you do not have to do that, they’re both independently removable, which allows for reduced maintenance time and costs.”

Similarly, the Sikorsky-Boeing team says the SB-1 has a simplified design, in particular because of the compound helicopter’s rigid rotor system.

“The rigid rotor has a great deal fewer parts. You don’t have lead-lag or flapping bearings. Feathering is the only axis that you’re provid-ing pitch control to those rotor blades,” says Fell. “The numbers count is such that our two rotors have fewer parts than a single [UH-60] Black Hawk main rotor system.”

Ultimately, both aircraft will also heavily rely on modern technologies to reduce the cost of operations and improve flight readi-ness, including onboard diagnostics, predic-tive maintenance and fully digitised designs of the rotorcraft.

Should the US Army ever have to distrib-ute its aircraft across austere bases, digital sus-tainment technologies could help the FLRAA operate longer without upkeep, says Jay Macklin, director of Sikorsky Future Vertical Lift business development.

“That’s going to enable [giving] command-ers real-time information that they can use for risk assessment and decision making if they have to do a maintenance-free operating peri-od where these aircraft are in some sort of dis-tributed area,” he says. “It gives the com-mander a tremendous amount of flexibility because he has access to data that he simply doesn’t have today on the legacy fleet.” ■

Bell V-280 Valor’s selling point is its tiltrotor design, allowing for economical flying at speed

Bel

l

“You’re able to do this leveldeceleration from 200kt intoand out of ground-effect hoverin a half-mile distanceBill Fell Test pilot, Sikorsky



For the US Army, speed means advantage, so it

has set demanding targets for its planned

Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA).

With a cruise speed of at least 180kt (333km/h),

the aircraft that will replace the Bell OH-58

Kiowa Warrior as its scouting and light-attack

rotorcraft is to be designed, built, tested, flown

and fielded to its first unit by 2028.

Both Bell’s 360 Invictus and Sikorsky’s Raider

X teams, which advanced into the next round of

the FARA competition in March, promise

unique advantages. Bell says its winged heli-

copter will be simple to manufacture and main-

tain in the field. Sikorsky leans on the track

record of its speedy X2 compound helicopter

technology, which it has test-flown on three

rotorcraft types: the X2, S-97 Raider and

Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant.

Adding FARA to its fleet is the US Army’s top

aviation priority. The service has been without a

scout helicopter since retiring the OH-58 in

2017, and has since then managed by teaming

Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters with

the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems

MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned air vehicle (UAV).

An aircraft dedicated to scouting targets and

performing light-attack missions should be

small and fast, with a cruise speed of 180kt and

a rotor diameter no greater than 12.2m (40ft).

The aircraft are also to have a modular open-

systems architecture, so that sensors, electron-

ics and weapons can quickly be swapped out

for the next best thing as technology advances.

Each aircraft is also required to have room for

an Integrated Weapons Launcher, which will

carry the service’s forthcoming Long Range

Precision Munition (LRPM) and Air Launched

Effects (ALE), a catch-all term for reconnais-

sance UAVs or loitering munitions.

The army wants all of those features so the

FARA can penetrate the airspace of advanced

adversaries such as China or Russia and take out

integrated air defences, as well as enemy tanks.

It believes it needs the speed so that the scout

can hit adversaries before they can react. The

small rotor diameter is to help the aircraft hide

and fight within narrow city streets – a likely bat-

tlefield in future as the world’s population increas-

ingly urbanises. LRPM and ALE are designed to

allow the rotorcraft to spot and fire upon targets

from a safe haven a great distance away.

The capabilities are so important that the

army has set a rapid timeline for acquiring the

FARA. The service wants prototype aircraft

ready for flights by fiscal year 2023. A winner

would be selected by the end of FY2024.

Early contenders included AVX Aircraft (part-

nered with L3Harris Technologies), Boeing and

Karem Aircraft.

Bell and Sikorsky are both working with prov-

en technology. The 360 Invictus is built around

the rotor system of the Bell 525 Relentless, an

in-development super-medium commercial

helicopter – except the 360 has a four-bladed,

12.2m-diameter rotor in place of the 525’s five-

bladed, 16.6m unit. Making up the difference is

a wing, a booster auxiliary power unit, tandem

seating for better aerodynamics and a ducted

tail rotor.

Sikorsky’s Raider X concept is built around its

X2 compound helicopter with coaxial main

rotors and a pusher propeller. That configura-

tion has been flight tested on the X2, the S-97

and recently the SB-1. The Raider X looks simi-

lar to the S-97, but is about 20% larger, partly to

make room for the US Army’s engine of choice,

the GE Aviation T901-900 turboshaft.

Bell argues that by sticking more closely to a

traditional helicopter design it will be able to

offer the army a more affordable scouting air-

craft. “When the aircraft is in the fleet or in the

field, if it becomes a big resources drain that

impacts everything else [negatively],” says

Frank Lazzara, Bell’s director of advanced verti-

cal lift systems sales and strategy. “We did not

go after a complex propulsor because of the

complexity and weight.” The main rotor will

also be made of conventional materials, mak-

ing it easier to manufacture.

Sikorsky notes that its X2 technology has

been flown on multiple aircraft, and stresses

that its rigid rotor system has fewer moving

parts compared with a conventional main rotor.

Key Raider X advantages include speed and

room for payload growth, it says.

“The retreating blade stall that any kind of

single main rotor aircraft is going to have, you

don’t have with this aircraft,” says Jay Macklin,

Sikorsky’s director of Future Vertical Lift. “I

think GE is probably going to find an ability to

drive more power into the engine,” he adds.

Sikorsky also notes that its side-by-side

cockpit makes for a wider aircraft body that can

hold additional munitions, fuel or soldiers,

should the army want to make use of the extra

capacity in the future.

Both companies expect the FARA to be a

constantly evolving aircraft, even well after a

competition winner is selected. Sikorsky says it

could include a modular back cabin that would

allow the service to quickly swap out munitions

for extra fuel or seating for soldiers. Bell notes

that it is including extra drag in its aerodynamic

test models to account for sensors or weapons

that the army might decide to add later. ■

PROCUREMENT GARRETT REIM LOS ANGELES

Speed is the essence in service’s race to regain dedicated armed scout capability❯❯

Bell 360 Invictus follows a more traditional rotorcraft design

Bell

Sikorsky’s Raider X concept is derived from its X2 compound helicopter

Sik

ors

ky



GARRETT REIM LOS ANGELES

Success in a trial launching a novel UAV from a helicopter at low altitude may prove decisive in meeting the US Army’s need to penetrate sophisticated adversaries’ air defences

Critical capability

Launching an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) from a forward-moving, low-fly-ing helicopter can be tricky, as it can be swatted away by the host platform’s

main rotor downwash. The small vehicle also has little time to deploy its wing and start fly-ing under its own power.

But by showing that a UAV can be launched from a helicopter flying at low altitude, the US Army says it is one step clos-er to developing the aircraft and weapons needed to penetrate and destroy the advanced air defences of potential adversaries such as China and Russia.

Indeed, the army has demonstrated a Sikor-sky UH-60 Black Hawk launching an Area-I ALTIUS UAV from 100ft above the ground. The ALTIUS, which stands for Air-Launched, Tube-Integrated Unmanned System, was launched while the helicopter was in forward flight during a 4 March test at the Yuma Prov-ing Grounds in Arizona.

The service wants ALTIUS to serve as an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance

(ISR) UAV to help spot enemy air defences, especially those that are optimised for shoot-ing down lower-altitude aircraft. It needs this capability to be able to fly at low level so that its scouting helicopters can also remain close to the ground, hidden behind hills or build-ings, out of the way of enemy detection and fire.

Targets spotted by the ALTIUS are to be de-stroyed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems’ Spike non line-of-sight (NLOS) missile. The Israeli company’s weapon has a 17.3nm (32km) range: far longer than that of the US service’s current Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire, which is limited to 4.3nm. That ex-tended range is to help keep US Army heli-copters beyond the reach of enemy anti-air-craft weapons.

ALTIUS and Spike NLOS are stopgap solutions that the service plans to buy and field soon so it can be ready for battles with near peer adversaries. Small numbers of the Spike NLOS are to be fielded by late 2022 or early 2023, and both systems are to be in hand by 2025.

The service declines to say how many

Spike NLOS missiles are to be ordered.“It’s a quantity enough to get after our glob-

al ‘we fight tonight’ challenges,” says Colonel Matthew Isaacson, Future Vertical Lift cross functional team chief of operations.

By 2028, when the army’s next-generation scouting helicopter, the Future Attack Recon-naissance Aircraft (FARA), is to be deployed, the service wants tailor-made systems.

It wants a successor – a so-called Air Launched Effect (ALE) – to the ALTIUS and Spike, with what it calls the Long-Range Pre-cision Munition (LRPM). The army expects to finish drafting requirements for both next-generation systems by the end of this year, says Isaacson.

HIDE AND SEEKWhile the US Army has been busy fighting wars in the Middle East, as well as the global war on terrorism, over the past 19 years, China and Russia have invested heavily in so-phisticated networks of surface-to-air missiles intended to shoot down US combat aircraft.

To counter these missile systems, the army is contracting US industry to develop helicop-ters, weapons, UAVs and battlefield networks that would allow it to attack and defeat an ad-versary’s air defences before the opposing force is able to mount a strong defence. In par-ticular, the service aims to go after lower-alti-tude surface-to-air missile batteries and Area-I ALTIUS is being developed as an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance asset

US

Arm

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US ARMY AVIATIONAir launched effects

US

Arm

y

AH-64 Apache is an attack workhorse whose impact may be enhanced with

new ALE payloads

anti-aircraft guns, leaving higher-altitude threats to the US Air Force.

“The air force brings the capability to open up higher airspace, but not near-terrain- flying altitude airspace,” says Isaacson. He says not all threats can be identified and attacked from high altitudes, meaning heli-copters are needed.

The service’s in-development FARA rotor-craft, with its cruise speed of at least 180kt (333km/h), is to serve as the first thrust of the spear in a penetration mission. ALE and LRPM are to sharpen the helicopter’s lethality by allowing it to spot threats from a safe dis-tance and strike targets.

The concept is similar to how the army cur-rently uses the Boeing AH-64E attack helicop-ter and General Atomics Aeronautical Sys-tems MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAV to spot and attack targets. The detect, identify, locate and report mission of scouting is unchanged.

However, the army envisages multiple ALEs speeding up the process by working to-gether in groups and automating target acqui-sition. “Artificial intelligence-enabled target recognition allows humans to reduce their workload ,” says Isaacson. “Having multiple ALEs in flight also allows us to extend the range [of UAVs] through line-of-sight commu-nications, where one can transmit data to an-other. We’ve demonstrated that.”

The ALEs would not only represent an ISR

capability, however. They are to be modular, allowing soldiers the ability to swap in and out payloads, as well as mission software.

A UAV with an electronic warfare payload could be used to disrupt enemy command, control and communications systems. “[It] provides some kind of chaos to the enemy or inhibits their ability to define where we’re at,” says Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Freude, FARA integration lead and G-3 plans and re-quirements officer.

The ALEs could also serve as decoys to tempt enemies into turning on their radar sys-tems and to draw out fire. “They give their positions away when they engage those de-coys,” says Freude.

Lastly, ALEs could serve as loitering muni-tions. “As targets are identified you can also prosecute the targets,” says Freude.

The army wants to overwhelm an adver-sary’s decision making ability, says Isaacson, noting: “We have to present multiple dilem-mas to our near peer adversaries.”

LONG-RANGE MISSILERafael’s Spike started as an anti-tank missile inspired by Israel’s experience in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when it was simultaneous-ly invaded by Egypt and Syria in a surprise massed tank attack. In response, Israel developed the Spike in the 1980s as a weapon that could attack the armoured reserves of an

invading army, thus slowing the adversary’s momentum.

The missile has evolved over the years to include anti-ship and anti-personnel war-heads. The wider Spike family includes shoulder- and vehicle-launched variants, and the maximum range of the missile has in-creased from 6.4nm to 17.3nm.

For business with the US government, Lockheed serves as the missile’s prime con-tractor. Rafael says it is in discussions to set up US-based manufacturing of the weapon.

In addition to its long range, the Spike has several further advantages over other air-launched missiles, its manufacturer says.

After receiving a target’s co-ordinates, the missile is steered to its destination using a combination of inertial navigation and an electro-optical/infrared camera.

“We don’t use GPS navigation. That’s a big advantage of the missile,” says Gal Papier, di-rector of business development for the precise tactical weapon systems directorate at Rafael. “It’s actually immune to a GPS-denied envi-ronment.”

In recent years, China and Russia have fo-cused on developing GPS jamming and spoof-ing capabilities to disrupt the USA’s ability to conduct GPS-guided precision strikes. The two countries have also invested in anti-satel-lite missiles.

For the last portion of the Spike’s trajectory to a target, a helicopter weapons officer steers the missile using its cameras. “The missile is transmitting the video of the missile seeker in real time using an encrypted data link to the operator,” says Papier. “The gunner feels like he’s riding on the missile.”

Though a loitering munition could do many of the same missions as the Spike NLOS, or the forthcoming LRPM, long-range missiles are favoured against high-value tar-gets because of their speed, says the US Army.

In August 2019, the service test-fired five Spike missiles from an AH-64E at the Yuma Proving Grounds. The missiles hit five out of five targets. The army says the demonstration gives it the confidence to move ahead with ac-quisition of the weapon.

In addition to the Apache, the UH-60, Boe-ing CH-47 Chinook and army UAVs can carry and launch ALEs and LRPMs, says Isaacson.

Looking beyond Spike and ALTIUS, the army declines to disclose exactly what it wants for its next generation of systems. Nonetheless, the service says it expects to be working within a constrained budget. Goals are to be achievable and practical, it says.

“We’re not talking about anything that’s boutique or expensive, or unaffordable. We know that the army aviation portfolio is not one that grows over time,” says Isaacson. “We’re looking at ways to integrate available affordable technology.” ■ ❯❯

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US ARMY AVIATIONAir launched effects

❯❯

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems is

planning an air launched effect (ALE) test from

its MQ-1C Gray Eagle Extended Range (ER)

unmanned air vehicle (UAV) later this year.

The company aims to launch a drone called

the Area-I Air-Launched Tube-Integrated

Unmanned System (ALTIUS) from the Gray Eagle

ER. Initial testing is to be focused on optimising

the data rates of the UAV’s TrellisWare radio data

link, the manufacturer said on 7 March.

“For our demonstration this summer, we will

show that ALEs can operate 60-80km [30-

40nm] from the Gray Eagle ER,” says Chris

Pehrson, vice-president of strategic develop-

ment for Department of Defense (DoD) cus-

tomers at General Atomics. “This range is

limited due to airspace and data link con-

straints. However, as data links mature and are

optimised, we expect ALEs will deploy and op-

erate up to 300km from the Gray Eagle ER.”

The flight demonstration is to be the third of a

series in which General Atomics wants to show

that the US Army’s MQ-1C can be modified and

used in battles against so-called Great Power

nations, sophisticated adversaries with advanced

radar and surface-to-air missile air defences.

The US DoD is increasingly worried that its

aircraft are vulnerable to being shot down.

Several of the US Air Force’s General Atomics

MQ-9 Reapers – the MQ-1C’s larger cousin –

have been lost to such action over the Middle

East in recent years.

To keep the MQ-1C beyond the reach of an

adversary’s missiles, the company is

experimenting with using long-range sensors

on the platform.

“Greater range of sensors enables all Gray

Eagle configurations to operate outside of threat

[air defence artillery] engagement ranges and sur-

vive through the end of the fight,” says Pehrson.

“Recent army-sponsored independent

[modelling and simulation] analysis against ad-

vanced integrated air defence system threats

showed that no Gray Eagles were lost when

operated at altitude, on the friendly side of the

forward line of troops.”

In the two earlier demonstrations, the

company says it showed the MQ-1C was able

to use L3Harris Technologies’ Rio Nino

Communications Intelligence system to detect

emitters, such as radar or radio communica-

tions. A General Atomics Lynx synthetic

aperture radar sensor cross-cued the targets at

a range of more than 30nm.

Those targets could then be fired upon by the

US Army’s Long Range Precision Fires artillery,

nearby troops, tanks or helicopters, as well as

long-range weapons, such as missiles or loitering

munitions, launched from the Gray Eagle ER.

In the third demonstration, the ALTIUS will

be controlled with Area-I’s software. Uplink and

downlink data for the UAV will be sent from the

ground through the Gray Eagle ER data link and

then out via the onboard TrellisWare radio data

link to the ALTIUS.

Eventually, General Atomics plans to control

the UAV, or any other ALE, from its Scalable

Command & Control software program, which

can fly the MQ-1C in place of a full ground con-

trol station. The software runs on a standard US

Army ruggedised laptop and uses a commer-

cial video game controller.

The ALTIUS is recoverable and reuseable. It

is thought of as “attritable”, meaning it is cheap

enough to be lost or destroyed without serious

financial pain to the service.

General Atomics is looking at aerial recovery

of ALEs from the MQ-9B and is considering it

for the MQ-1C as well.

“It is feasible for Gray Eagle ER and some-

thing we will continue to consider,” says

Pehrson. “Gray Eagle ER is a flexible platform

and we will work closely with the army to sup-

port the recovery method that they require.”

The army has not said how many ALEs it

would want the MQ-1C to carry, but General

Atomics says it is capable of carrying 12 to 16

ALTIUS-sized drones. ■

UNMANNED SYSTEMS GARRETT REIM LOS ANGELES

Gray Eagle trial to show how long-range sensors and weapons can protect UAVs

Third demonstration will seek to prove that MQ-1C can be modified for use against enemies with sophisticated missile defences

Genera

l Ato

mic

s A

ero

nautica

l Sys

tem

s

“Greater range of sensors

enables all Gray Eagle

configurations to operate

outside of threat [air defence

artillery] engagement ranges”Chris Pehrson Vice-president strategic development, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems

SAVE THE DATE | nbaa.org/2020

SAVE THE DATE FOR THE WORLD’S LARGEST BUSINESS AVIATION EVENTJoin over 23,000 industry professionals for the most important three days of business

STRAIGHT&LEVEL


From yuckspeak to tales of yore, send your offcuts to [email protected]

Virg

in A

tlantic

Just ‘chuting outThe professional parachute

has always been around the

28 ft. diameter.

In his remarkable

descent from

10,800 ft. in

November, 1915, General

Maitland, C.M.G., D.S.O.,

A.F.C., Director of Airships,

used a 32-ft. parachute. He

was in the air 15 minutes,

and the parachute swung so

much he was sea-sick.

FDR remembered A great man has gone from

us. While the United States

was still a

neutral, he sent

us aircraft, ships,

and other things

we needed. In the recent

Pacific battle we used

Corsairs, Hellcats and

Avengers, as well as our

native Seafires, and we

remember it was Roosevelt

who let us have them.

Landing LightningFlying the Lightning is

regarded as being not too

difficult because

the aircraft is

said to have no

vices. It always

seemed to me to be a

hair-raising aircraft,

particularly in those stream

landings at the SBAC

show.“We shan’t be pulling

more than 3g at altitude, so

you shouldn’t have any

trouble,” was the line.

Open skies aheadThe European Commission

(EC) will adopt its mandate

for open-skies

deals with the

USA by the end

of April,

according to a senior

Transport Directorate

source. “We’re not going

for protection, or restrictive

agreements,” says the EC.

“These are very liberal

open-skies proposals.”

Lots of space on the bookshelfWe’ve all become used to visual references that compare the size of aircraft carrier decks to so many football pitches, or show areas of lost Brazilian rainforest in terms of multiples of Wales. However, Airbus Defence & Space has come up with one that we have been struggling to get our heads around.

One of its satellites, it reports, has delivered almost 350 terabytes of data – the equivalent of a 1,400km-long bookshelf.

Now we can probably all, at a push, picture a domestic item of furniture for storing reading material and think of that stretching roughly from Paris to Prague. But it is hard, even for the geeks among us, to visualise how much data can fit into a physical space – a microchip, say, or a matchbox – let alone a bookshelf.

Sometimes big data seems very big.

Latin loverIf you happen to be a Canadian aircraft owner and appreciator of ancient poetry who spends their time, while not flying, immersed in the works of the famed writer Publius ‘Ovid’ Ovidius Naso – author of the epic Metamorphoses – then we’ve good news and bad news.

The good news is that the Canadian aircraft registry shows the entry ‘C-OVID’ is available.

The bad news…

Just visitingThe BBC website reported that residents in Luton were “shocked” at the sight of a Boeing C-17 transport from RAF Brize Norton conducting test landings at the Bedfordshire airport, which like many others is having a Covid-19 hiatus.

The headline proclaimed: “Huge RAF plane uses empty Luton Airport runway”. It made us wonder: what is the normal state of the runway at Luton?

Virgin tributeWe enjoyed this picture tweeted out by Virgin Atlantic, after one of its engineers paid tribute to the UK’s National Health Service on one of its grounded Boeing 747s at Gatwick.

The airline comments: “Lots of our planes are staying home and staying safe, just like the rest of us.”

All good newsFrom the elephant in the room department, two press releases that manage to ignore the biggest crisis for aviation for decades.

Marking an aftermarket support contract, a Meggitt announcement enthuses: “This is an exciting time for JAL…”

The press release came just as the Japanese airline announced it is cutting 85% of its services in April. Exciting perhaps in the same way that plunging from a cliff edge is exciting.

Meanwhile, leasing company BOC Aviation heralded in a release an “excellent” first quarter in its latest results statement, published in early April, noting that it had “placed all aircraft that are expected to be delivered in 2020”.

With the leasing sector going into meltdown, that level of optimism might not age so well.

Ever fancied designing a natty colour scheme for your helicopter? Now is your chance. To while away the long

days of lockdown, both Bell and Airbus Helicopters have published colouring books, with pictures of their various

types against mountain and cityscapes – and, in Bell’s case, cartoon-like action scenes of sea rescues and

military manoeuvres. The Airbus version also features word puzzles and a match the shape to the model

contest. Why waste it on the kids?

LETTERS

flightglobal.com

[email protected]

30 | Flight International | 21-27 April 2020

ACCIDENT

Balancing Atlas crash factors

I feel there could be more to the February 2019 crash of an

Atlas Air Boeing 767 freighter than just somatogravic illusion

(Flight International, 7-13 April).

Decades before I became a heavy jet type-rated instructor,

my first flying job was instructing ab initio students in gliders.

We were aware of the propensity for a small proportion of

people to be acutely sensitive to sub-gravity sensations,

sometimes with extreme physical responses.

Some showed a less strong response, but still experienced

fear/panic and difficulty with rational judgement. These peo-

ple often associated this feeling with stalling, pushing the

stick yet further and thereby making the situation worse.

The profile of the 767 crash does not perfectly fit the classic

somatogravic situation, where a steady pitch down is made

so the sum of the normal and longitudinal accelerations feels

approximate to level flight – the pitch rates suggest markedly

less than 1g was experienced, maybe less than 0g.

It is possible for people to get through initial training and

not know they have this propensity: in the commercial flying

world, exposure to normal acceleration below 0g is very rare,

and no flight simulation training device can replicate it.

There may be more than one latent problem in our flight-

decks; several historic accidents could possibly be ascribed to

experienced pilots being unaware of this trait.

Dave Byass Via email

Design out Max control issues

compromise handling qualities under full manual control? It appears to be a fundamental mis-take ever to use an active control to cure handling problems.

The other mistake was to use data from an inherently unrelia-ble angle of attack system, which should only offer advisory infor-mation on a pilot’s display.

We urgently need a novel way of measuring flight attitude, and it is suggested that we might ex-plore the possibilities of an iner-tial system. This could have two distributed components along the fuselage for incidence meas-urement, or span-wise for a new method of measuring bank angle.Malcolm BowdenMcDonald, Tennessee, USA

Fine marginsThe ongoing saga of the two 737 Max fatal accidents (Flight International, 10-16 March) re-minds me of my own battles with a large international company.

In the case of Boeing, fitting a simplex control mechanism without any redundancy back-up should it malfunction was not carried out. This was to get the aircraft flying commercially in time to compete with Airbus. Commercialism instead of safety was the basic cause.

In my own case, I was operat-ing a helicopter for one of the larg-est oil companies in the world in Nigeria. An offshore crew change flight was due. I told the client that I was delaying the flight be-cause the weather was below lim-its. They objected strongly and pressed me to do it, but I refused.

They complained to senior management of my company. I was hoping they would back me up, but they went silent.

I lived to fly another day.Peter Gray MRAeSVia email

Congratulations to David Learmount for a truly fair and refreshingly balanced account of Boeing’s problems with the 737 Max and the changes in design philosophy envisaged by its new chief executive (Flight Interna-tional, 10-16 March).

We can now expect revisions in long-established design rules and regulations, but we need to have a care how we handle the rush to automation. Comments at-tributed to US Federal Aviation Administration regulators imply-ing that taking the pilot out of the loop is desirable are disquieting.

There is much to be said for re-taining the traditional design phi-losophy in reversion to full manu-al control and exploiting instincts instilled in basic flight training.

System complexity is placing unreasonable demands on pilots to quickly detect system failures, then establish their probable cause and the best remedial ac-tion. The obvious answer is es-sentially to automate the pilots’ notes in a new system that de-tects failures and establishes the recommended remedial action

for an advisory pilot display. However, it is imperative that such a system should not have di-rect control authority, as there is always the possibility of the pro-gram failing in a rare combination of unforeseen circumstances.

In the case of the 737 Max, the traditional Boeing design

philosophy of allowing the pilot full manual control was violated by using the Maneuvering Char-acteristics Augmentation System to correct a handling deficiency.

One wonders why Boeing could not have used passive de-vices such as strakes and vortex generators, which would not

Just

Pix

s/Shutt

ers

tock

We welcome your letters on any aspect of the aerospace industry. Please write to: The Editor, Flight International,

1st Floor, Chancery House,

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Letters without a full postal address sup-

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Were pilots affected by ‘sub-gravity sensations’?

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WORKING WEEK


Spake says his time as a celebrity was just ‘a small part of who I am’

Showing the reality of responsibilityJeremy Spake became a TV personality after his appearances on the BBC’s fly-on-the-wall documentary

Airport. Having moved on from his role at Heathrow, he is now deputy director at the Isle of Man airport

WORK EXPERIENCE JEREMY SPAKE

keep things interesting. Having good people around me is also something that helps, and I am lucky enough to have a great team who are eager to learn and improve, which certainly helps with the unexpected! What are the challenges?

I arrived on the Isle of Man just over 18 months ago, and one of the most significant challenges has been my quest to introduce modern practices of self-audit, oversight and compliance. I quickly identified the need for us to introduce a comprehensive operational management system to support our growth, and was lucky enough to be introduced to Centrik, which we are currently using to refine and meet our in-creasingly complex operational needs. For example, when com-pleting our latest full aerodrome audit the regulator was delighted with how robust our system was and the level of transparency we were able to provide. With ambi-tious plans to grow the airport and provide the Isle of Man with a modern, fit-for-purpose gate-way, there are many more chal-lenges ahead, but with great peo-ple and processes I am confident that we will achieve our aims.

How did you get into aviation?

I fell in love with commercial aviation at the age of 11 and de-cided I wanted a career in the in-dustry, so I joined Czechoslovak Airlines at 16.How has your career

progressed?

I started as an airline manage-ment apprentice, which was a great opportunity to get a sound understanding of all aspects of operations. This has continued to develop as I have progressed through each phase of my career, including working for Aeroflot, British Airways and holding management positions at a num-ber of UK airports. I’m now han-dling day-to-day operational re-sponsibilities at the Isle of Man international airport, which as the main gateway to the island is serviced by six regular airlines, making it a vital transport hub.What are the highlights?

An obvious highlight was the arrival in 1996 of the BBC at London Heathrow for the filming of the fly-on-the-wall documen-tary Airport, which at its peak was attracting 17 million viewers in the UK and over 500 million viewers globally. The show pro-vided those of us working in the industry with a great opportunity to show how airlines and air-ports work together to keep peo-ple moving safely every day.How did your spell as a TV

celebrity affect your career?

It helped to raise my profile in the industry, but was also per-haps a bit of a double-edged sword. Occasionally it made

people I met overly cautious, through a fear that they would suddenly find themselves being filmed. When people get to know me, though, they realise that my time on screen is simply a small part of who I am, and that com-mercial aviation is genuinely my number one passion. What is your current role and

what are your responsibilities?

I’m the deputy airport director on the Isle of Man, where I have day-to-day responsibility for all operations. I’m busy developing the airport, improving efficien-cies, commercial viability and generally making the place great for our customers and staff. We see around 30,000 aircraft movements and one million passengers per year, so adapting our culture to embrace the latest

safety practices has been a key focus for me and my team. To do this we needed a robust opera-tional management system ca-pable of delivering a step change across all aspects of the airport, so we recently introduced Centrik – a powerful, compre-hensive system that’s helping us achieve our continuous im-provement targets.What do you enjoy most about

your job?

Although a cliche, it’s the never quite knowing what each day will bring. The variety of airport operations is such that one moment you can be discussing the redevelopment of the depar-ture lounge, then the next man-aging significant disruption or an incident. No two days are ever the same, and this helps to

Isle

of M

an a

irp

ort

If you would like to feature in

Working Week, or you know

someone who would, email

your pitch to kate.sarsfield@

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