Company Bets On Its HH-92 Superhawk
Aero-News has learned Sikorsky Aircraft presented its final
proposal Monday to the US Air Force for the service's Combat Search
and Rescue (CSAR-X) mission requirements. The company's
proposal centers on the Sikorsky HH-92 Superhawk
helicopter, which Sikorsky says meets the pressing US Air Force
requirement to replace the Sikorsky HH-60G rescue helicopters
currently in service.
As Aero-News has reported,
the Air Force plans to acquire up to 141 aircraft in connection
with the CSAR-X competition. The Air Force has an additional
requirement for up to 71 aircraft for the service's follow-on
Common Vertical Lift Support Platform (CVLSP) requirement to
provide missile site security, VIP transport, and cargo and troop
transport.
"The Air Force faces growing operational commitments with
tighter budgets and manpower constraints," said Maj. Gen. (ret.)
Mike Farage, Sikorsky's Air Force Government Business Manager. "Our
HH-92 aircraft is right-sized for all missions -- one common
cockpit with four cabin configurations to meet the combat search
and rescue, missile site security, VIP transport, and cargo and
troop transport missions. Our fleet experience shows it can sustain
high operational tempos with far less maintenance than alternative
aircraft."
The HH-92 helicopter is a military variant of the Sikorsky S-92
helicopter that has sustained operational readiness rates of 97
percent in harsh environments that are 20 to 30 percent higher than
military norms. Since entering service in 2004, S-92 helicopters
have flown thousands of high-tempo, offshore oil operations,
averaging just 2.5 maintenance man-hours per flight hour, about
one-quarter of the figure of other medium and heavy lift
helicopters in service today.
In less than two years of intense commercial service, 38 S-92
helicopters have logged more than 26,000 flight hours with some
aircraft flying up to 160 hours per month and more than 1,400 hours
per year.
The S-92 helicopter was designed to reduce routine maintenance
activities by 80 percent and operating costs by 40 percent when
compared to past-generation helicopters. "The Air Force has to
maximize the availability and affordability of every combat asset
and the HH-92 aircraft is built around systems that largely look
after themselves," said Farage.
Sikorsky's HH-92 demonstrator aircraft features include
quick-change interiors for diverse missions. It also proved to Air
Force evaluators that the HH-92 can be prepared for deployment
aboard Air Force jet transports in minutes rather than hours as
required by other helicopters.
"It is the only CSAR-X
alternative that enables the Air Force to prepare to deploy two
helicopters on a C-17 or three on a C-5 within the two- to
three-hour window of time required by the Air Force's request for
proposal. That's an important consideration when you have to build
combat power in-theater quickly," Farage said.
The HH-92 helicopter builds upon the S-92 helicopter, which is
the only helicopter in its size class certified to the latest
international standards for flaw tolerance, crashworthiness, and
bird strike, lightning, and turbine burst protection.
The multi-mission MH-92 or CH-148 Cyclone is under development
for the Canadian Forces' Maritime Helicopter Program. The S-92
aircraft has already been chosen to fly the coast guard
search-and-rescue mission for the United Kingdom. The governments
of Qatar, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and the Republic of Korea have also
selected the aircraft for VIP transport.