BUILDING A BETTER ROTORCRAFT


Industry examines the state of the art, and the art of the possible


by Margaret C. Roth A


s the Army and DoD look ahead to the next generation of vertical lift aircraft, industry participants in the Association of the United States Army’s Institute


of Land Warfare Army Aviation Symposium and Exposition Jan. 11-13 offered an in-depth look at the state of rotorcraft technology and where it could go from here.


The consensus was that, given the necessary investment


in science and technology (S&T),


multiple solutions are available or within reach to replace the third-generation vertical lift platforms in heavy use today. Just as the Army embarked on its next generation of helicopters at the end of the Vietnam conflict, it is now looking at the next generation of Army rotorcraft at a time of draw- down from Iraq and, by 2014, from Afghanistan.


“We have the best equipment in the world today,” said Michael J. Hirschberg, Executive Director of the American Helicopter Society International, composed of engineers,


scientists, and others


working on vertical flight technology. However, he added, “The V-22 [Osprey] is the only combat rotorcraft that’s been fielded in the past 25 years.”


The Chinook celebrated the 50th anniversary of its first flight in 2011. The prototype Black Hawk


first flew in 1974, the Apache in 1975. S&T tech- nology initiatives in the 1960s supported those efforts, Hirschberg noted.


Now the military and the rotorcraft indus- try are working together on future vertical lift (FVL) capabilities, and DoD has identified 55 significant gaps between what is desired and what exists today.


What happens next will require collaboration and a shared commitment, Hirschberg said. “If we can have a strategic plan and set a strategy for the department, I think that industry can get behind that. … We’ve seen what industry can do when they invest their own money and work together with government. So I think there are huge ben- efits to be had.”


COMMITMENT IS KEY Strategic planning and action are separate things, and DoD’s emerging strategic plan for FVL “is more of an overarching vision,” Hirschberg said.


“Unfortunately the bureaucracy of government doesn’t move as quickly as industry would like.”


A strong leadership commitment to systems devel- opment will be key to making the vision a reality, he said. “The S&T budgets have been starved for


ASC.ARMY.MIL 151


CONFERENCE CALL


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