STUTTGART, Germany, and ROME — As some NATO nations go to the drafting board for a brand new military helicopter, manufacturers are studying Russia’s war in Ukraine for clues about features and tactics that may give their designs an edge.
Western leaders have put a premium on conventional ground warfare and related capabilities since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion in February 2022. For the rotorcraft world, the battles raging across the country have demonstrated the way it’s not only the aircraft themselves which are a deciding think about war, but additionally commanders’ tactical decisions in employing them.
Each Russia and Ukraine fly the Sixties-era Mil Mi-8 helicopters over the Ukrainian battlefield, albeit in very alternative ways, said Stefan Thomé, the manager vp of engineering and the chief technical officer for Airbus Helicopters, in addition to CEO of the firm’s German arm.
Russian troops have operated their aircraft throughout the daytime at high altitudes, giving Ukrainian defenders a straightforward goal, he told Defense News. Meanwhile, Ukrainian pilots have flown the identical type, but largely at night or at dawn, at low altitudes and all the time with natural coverage nearby.
“One in all the teachings out of Ukraine for everyone is that the way in which you use your systems, your weapons, your vehicle, might be more decisive than the vehicle itself,” Thomé said. “Given two an identical vehicles, the operational concept makes the difference.”
Because the war in Ukraine began, Airbus has seen client nations reassess operational concepts, envisioning novel ways of using existing and planned equipment to maximum effect, Thomé added. And as Europe looks to refresh its military helicopter capabilities in the subsequent decade, lessons learned from the war are certain to make their way into industry proposals, he noted.
Several NATO members are within the early phases of developing a brand new multirole helicopter by 2035. The planned Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability, or NGRC, is supposed to help allies in missions that include insertion and extraction of special operations forces, and transporting small- and medium-sized cargo and troops on the battlefield. It is also used for medical evacuation, search and rescue operations, and anti-submarine warfare.
Six nations signed a memorandum of understanding in June 2022 throughout the biennial Eurosatory conference in Paris. France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK then agreed to contribute about $28 million collectively to develop joint concepts for the brand new rotorcraft. Canada is anticipated to hitch the project in June, a NATO spokesperson told Defense News.
Up to now, the NGRC group has planned a handful of concept studies. One or two of those studies might be awarded this yr, specializing in novel power plant solutions and open-system architecture.
Alliance officials have already talked with European helicopter manufacturers in these early days of honing requirements, including Airbus. Thomé called it a “significant” initiative that might potentially emerge with multiple capabilities.
Program stakeholders have largely come together to agree on the scale of the subsequent allied helicopter, he noted. NATO documents show a desire for the brand new aircraft to have an unrefueled range of greater than 1,650 kilometers (1,025 miles), eight hours of endurance and a load capability between 10,000 and 17,000 kilograms (22,000 and 37,500 kilos).
Requirements for connectivity and in-field maintainability are two more elements that look like settled, Thomé said.
Other features under discussion include the flexibility to operate or connect with other crewed or unmanned vehicles in addition to real-time decision-making tools for pilots as a part of an avionics suite or communication systems, he added.
The USA isn’t participating within the NGRC effort per se, the alliance spokesperson told Defense News, “but as a NATO member with a really solid experience in progressive rotorcraft, we maintain communication channels to share feedback.”
A trans-Atlantic tech rift?
If European partners of NATO drag their feet for too long, that might exacerbate what some analysts consider is a growing trans-Atlantic disparity on vertical flight technology. Complicating matters is the incontrovertible fact that there are several projects aimed toward roughly the identical capability.
European Union officials recently announced their very own dedicated helicopter effort as a part of the bloc’s Everlasting Structured Cooperation defense-cooperation scheme. France will lead the Next Generation Medium Helicopter program that also involves Italy, Finland and Spain, which is able to work on latest platforms and upgrade existing types just like the NH90.
This system will “ensure the provision and suitability of EU helicopter fleets until 2040,″ the EU said, in addition to feeding into the bloc’s existing Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies program.
“The U.S. has invested in [next-generation helicopter technology] and identified the quantum leap it desires to take, none of which Europe has done yet,” said Alessandro Marrone, head of the defense program on the Rome-based think tank IAI. “Europe has necessary decisions to make, and waiting too long might be damaging.”
One key fork within the road of future development has to do with propeller setup and, consequently, the load given to the element of agility in helicopter employment scenarios.
The U.S. Army last yr selected the Bell V-280 tiltrotor aircraft to interchange Black Hawks within the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft program, or FLRAA, rejecting Sikorsky’s Defiant X coaxial rotor proposal.
The Army hasn’t chosen a platform for its Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft program, but any decision in such a big American program would likely shape Western technology decisions writ large. “The U.S. programs are the elephant within the room in Europe on the subject of the talk over future helicopters,” Marrone said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. decision to reject Sikorsky’s proposal raised eyebrows in Italy where generals and defense budget officials had come out in firm favor of the technology.
Italy’s coaxial conundrum
Last yr, before the U.S. Army’s FLRAA decision, Italian Air Force chief Gen. Luca Goretti urged Italy to partner with Sikorsky and its parent company Lockheed Martin on coaxial rotor helicopters. That sort of system features two rotors turning in opposite directions, and pusher propellers that increase speed.
He said the Italian Air Force needed the sort, citing his concern that Bell’s tiltrotor solution would include a big maintenance bill.
The Italian 2022 defense budget included initial funding for a Next Generation Fast Helicopter program “based on advanced and potentially disruptive technology, for instance coaxial rotors and pusher propellors.” This system is because of receive €129 million (U.S. $138 million) in funding by 2032, the budget plan states.
To dispel any doubt as to which of the rival American FLRAA candidates the Defence Ministry preferred, the document features an illustration of Sikorsky’s helicopter.
But following the FLRAA defeat, enthusiasm for that specific Sikorsky technology is wavering, in line with a source with knowledge of the ministry’s discussions.
“Moreover, the U.S. Army explanation of why it rejected Sikorsky was very critical, almost suggesting the firm was unreliable,” the source told Defense News on the condition of anonymity to debate internal deliberations.
Insiders in Italy have meanwhile said local company Leonardo was less captivated with the coaxial solution than Italian generals, despite the fact that the business was asked by the federal government to team up with Lockheed Martin on the technology.
The reticence was linked to fears that specializing in coaxial technology could drain funds from Leonardo’s existing development of the traditional AW249, a substitute for its AW129 combat helicopter and of its AW609 tiltrotor.
A Leonardo spokesman recently said the firm had first conducted a study of coaxial technology with Lockheed Martin in 2021 on the request of the Italian Defence Ministry, adding that in “the previous couple of weeks” the ministry had asked Leonardo to undertake “a second phase study based on operational needs of the assorted services.”
Asked what predictions Leonardo had for future helicopters, the firm said it saw a job for today’s conventional technologies.
“Within the nearer future we see greater capabilities incrementally introduced on existing conventional models, or a combination of latest-generation, dual-use and specialized platforms entering the market,” the corporate said in a press release to Defense News.
Those capabilities would come with greater network-centric features, advanced avionics, manned-unmanned teaming and more autonomy.
“In the long term, even with disruptive solutions and architectures step by step expected to enter the inventories, conventional but ‘smarter’ helicopters will still have a big role for many years,” Leonardo said.
There continues to be, nonetheless, loads of opportunity for brand spanking new “revolutionary” models, in line with the corporate, primarily for delivering higher speeds and longer ranges.
Vivienne Machi is a reporter based in Stuttgart, Germany, contributing to Defense News’ European coverage. She previously reported for National Defense Magazine, Defense Day by day, Via Satellite, Foreign Policy and the Dayton Day by day News. She was named the Defence Media Awards’ best young defense journalist in 2020.
Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.