MH90 vs. CH148: Replacing Sea Lynx and Sea King helicopter

10:38 GMT, March 20, 2009 The German Navy will soon reach a product decision regarding the new Maritime Helicopter (MH) programme, a Navy official told defpro.com. The new copters are urgently needed to replace the aging Sea Lynx and, even more so, the Sea King helicopter types which are in service since 1975 with the Naval Air Squadron 5 at Kiel-Holtenau.

The German Navy’s Sea King Mk 41 primarily serves for emergency air sea rescue and patrol and was formerly also equipped with four external Sea Skua missiles for combat missions. This capability was then transferred to the Sea Lynx Mk 88A, whose usual roles include Anti-Submarine (ASW) and Anti-Surface Warfare (AUSW) as well as troop and cargo transport.

Unifying the different roles of the Sea Lynx and the Sea King has been carried over into the requirements for the new helicopter.

The German Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement (Bundesamt fur Wehrtechnik and Beschaffung, BWB) issued an RFI (request for information) on November 11, 2008 to the industry for a cost estimate for 30 naval helicopters with delivery starting in 2015. The RFI also includes the request for a corresponding training and maintenance concept. According to the BWB, a contract may be signed in 2011.

Based upon the Navy’s requirement, 30 new copters are needed which should be able to perform ASW and ASuW missions as well as Search and Rescue (SAR) and Special Ops Support operations, mainly from naval ships such as the F125 frigates, which are expected to enter service in 2015. The aircraft will be equipped for day and night operations and should be able to cope with adverse weather and severe ship motion conditions.

NHIndustries (NHI), a joint company of Eurocopter, AgustaWestland and Stork Fokker responded on February 27 to the RFI saying the estimated cost for 30 such helicopters would be €1.8 billion with deliveries from 2015-2020. According to NHI, the maritime derivative of the NH90 medium sized, twin-engine, multi-role military chopper, the MH90, will fulfill all requirements of the German Navy.

Dr. Clive Schley, Vice President & NAHEMA Programme Coordination Manager, Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH told defpro that the MH90 would be a perfect solution for the German Navy since the similar NH90 is in service with the national Air Force as well as Army. “With this fleet homogeneity, synergies in maintenance and during foreign deployments will lead to cost savings,” he said.

Technical problems which the MH programme has faced in the past, such as with the landing gear, radar and navigation systems, have mostly been solved, Schley said.

However, these problems have resulted in a delay of the entire programme which has lead to a reopening of the competition by the German Navy. A Navy official who declined to be identified stated that the Sikorsky’s CH148 – a variant of the four-bladed, twin-engine, medium lift H-92 Superhawk, would be a logical alternative. According to defence analysts, the Sikorsky aircraft should be cheaper than the NHI model and 30 CH-148s may cost around €1.3 billion. The German MoD has invested €250 million in the MH90 research and development (R&D) so far. If they would decide to change their original choice they had to pay an additional €250 million to the NHI partners as compensation, which would nearly equalize the costs.

The CH-148 Cyclone is manufactured for the Canadian Forces' (CF) Maritime Helicopter Project and will also have the needed capabilities including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, search and rescue, as well as troop and cargo transport. Beyond that, it will be fully equipped for ship-based operations including automatic blade and tail fold systems and a deck to aircraft recovery assist system. The Canadian programme, however, is suffering from massive delays that do not seem to contribute to the aircraft’s credibility.

Both aircraft are equipped with advanced all-electric fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control system, whereas the MH90 system is already qualified and the CH-148 has just started flight tests.

One of the main differences between the two copters is the size: The MH90 is 16.13 meters long and has a transport capability of 2500 kg. The Cyclone is longer, at 20.9 meters, and has a transport capability of 7200 kg, thus more internal space is available for the installation of mission equipment.

According to the German Navy, the new helicopter should be able to perform the above mentioned mission simultaneously, meaning it should always be equipped with all equipment including dipping sonar and torpedoes. While the MH90 in the currently planned configuration will not be able to fulfil this requirement, the size could result in the largest advantage of the US -built helicopter, however, its size could also be its major problem: The chopper seems to be too large for most of the hangars within the vessels where it is to be deployed. It is not foreseen that the MH90 will be accommodated in the hangars of the F122 and F123 frigates. These vessels will depend on the Lynx until they reach the end of their service life around 2020. The F124 will need a minor modification on its hangar to handle the MH90, while the F125 hangars were designed with the MH90 in mind.

The Cyclone, however, will certainly be too large for these frigates and could only operate from the Combat Support Vessels.
529 NH90 has been ordered by 14 nations so far, including 111 in the naval version. 25 helicopters have been delivered to its customer since 2007, while 100 are in production. Future NFH operators include Australia, Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden (as SAR version).