Sweden Ordering H-60M Helicopters for Afghan CSAR/MEDEVAC

Swedish NH90-TTH HCV

In September 2010, required DSCA arms sale notifications announced a possible Swedish buy of up to 15 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, plus side items like engines, defensive systems, and support, for up to $546 million. Their mission? Combat Search And Rescue & MEDEVAC missions in Afghanistan, a Swedish program worth over $750 million all told.

The announcement was surprising, because Sweden already flies the UH-60M’s main competitor – NHI’s NH90 TTH. Sweden’s 13 machines were even ordered in a “high cabin” configuration that’s especially well suited to combat search and rescue and MEDEVAC operations, and Eurocopter had unveiled a German NH90-TTH MEDEVAC kit on June 4/10. On the other hand, the NH90 has been plagued by slow deliveries, and slower certification and acceptance. Was the interest serious, or was it just a shot across NHI’s bow? In May 2011, the verdict came in: Sweden was serious. With full operational capability for their NH90s delayed to 2020, Sweden bought the Black Hawks. They are now working on acceptance and local customization, for deployment to Afghanistan and other operations abroad in 2013.

ROVER Sics TacAir on Enemies

Start with this…

“ROVER” (Remote Operational Video Enhanced Receiver) is an unimpressive piece of equipment. Mostly, it looks like a ruggedized laptop with antennas. But SpaceWar.com quotes Lt. Col. Gregory E. Harbin, of the 609th Combat Operations Squadron at Shaw Air Force Base, SC, who says “…the ROVER is bringing a phenomenal capability to our people on the ground.” ROVER is the Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver, which receives camera images from nearby aircraft and UAVs (somewhat like Israel’s wrist-mounted V-RAMBO), then integrates them with other US positioning and targeting software.

Staff Sgt. Justin Cry, a Shaw Joint Tactical Air Controller (JTAC), has a job that’s an art form at the best of times. Describing features from the ground to a pilot looking down while flying at high speed is no easy task. According to a Dec 16/05 USAF article, he used the system in Iraq and in New Orleans, and says simply: “I can circle an area on my screen, drawing arrows for emphasis, and what I’m drawing appears on (the pilots’) screens as well.”

ROVER continues to evolve, and is becoming an unheralded but critical piece of equipment in America’s arsenal. This is DID’s FOCUS Article covering the system and its ongoing developments.

Rapid Fire July 16, 2012: Droning On

• The American FAA has released thousands of pages of certification documents for UAV flights in civil airspace. They establish which organizations have sought permission, their specific drone models, where they fly, how often, and for how long. Hat tip: reader Jason Attas.

• Kurt Albaugh from the US Naval Academy marvels at the 9 million lines of code helping fly the F-35 and wonders whether this could lead to unmanned JSFs. This is a rather fast shortcut. Modern cars that cost less than the seat in a fighter jet often run as much or more code, but this has led to reliability issues. Quantity in code has an adverse quality of its own, that is, more code makes things more complicated to troubleshoot. There’s probably a lot that aircraft makers, car manufacturers, and software companies like Google (working on driverless cars) can learn from one another – Even the more so with increased civilian UAV use.

• Colombia’s air force releases an official statement that says their downed Super Tucano was not hit by FARC anti-aircraft fire. Brazil also had a crash recently, and Colombian crash pictures didn’t show bullet holes in the wing. The front section, where a missile would hit or AA fire could take out the pilot/engine, was destroyed in the crash.

• Iraq has set money aside to field air defense systems. It currently has none, but the April 30/12 SIGIR report [PDF] said that a formal request for mobile Avenger systems was coming.

• BAE has begun simulator tests to modify the Eurofighter’s cockpit for the new long-range Meteor air-to-air missile. Britain’s Prime Minister recently announced an agreement to integrate the Meteor, but this test’s timing shows why it’s expected to take until 2015.

• Canada’s 1st “CH-147F” heavy-lift helicopter makes its 1st flight at Boeing’s facility.

• Pro tip for the PLAAN: When you’re trying to be a bully in disputed waters around the Spratlys, try not to run your frigate aground on a reef.

• A look at current and future prospects for defense contractors based in Indiana.

• The Committees on Arms Export Controls (CAEC) in the British parliament issued a report scrutinizing arms exports, stating that “the Government should apply significantly more cautious judgements when considering arms export licence applications for goods to authoritarian regimes which might be used to facilitate internal repression.” They acknowledge that the executive provided them plenty of information though these answers were delayed, an issue raised last year in Germany as well.