CASR

- Canadian Defence Policy, Foreign Policy, & Canada-US Relations -

In Detail —— the Maritime Helicopter Project ——

by ST Priestley

MHP Index

In Detail Home

CASR Home

Contact CASR

Canadian Defence Procurement  —  updated and revised January 2004 Politics, Procurement Practices, and Procrastination: the Quarter-Century Sea King Helicopter Replacement Saga Part 15  —  “... Once more unto the breach ...”  —  Candidates for the New MHP Critics of the two-part airframe and integrated mission systems competition had a good point.  Even the word ‘integrated’ made a mockery of the concept. None of this did Canada’s credibility much good either.  And potential suppliers were getting tetchy. Public Works’  insistance on “lowest-cost compliant” bids did not help. [1]  Even so, the MHP was a tempting prize for defence and aviation firms. The MHP candidates have been covered elsewhere but we will review them here. The key airframe manufacturers are familiar from the NSA competition but two of the aircraft submitted are radically different.  The third helicopter is very familiar. Sikorsky put forward their H-92. Later dubbed Superhawk, this helicopter is based on Sikorsky’s earlier S-70 series [2]. By comparison, the H-92 fuselage is much enlarged and now features a rear loading ramp. Both changes make the H-92 a far better match for the MHP requirement than the S-70 could ever be. NH Industries (which includes Aérospatiale) formed to promote the new NH-90 multi-purpose helicopter. Slightly smaller than the other MHP candidates, the NH-90 is distinguished by being the first helicopter of composite [3] construction (eliminating corrosion and improving survivability in the event of a crash ). The NH-90 NFH (NATO Frigate Helicopter) submitted for the MHP was designed to replace both the Sea Kings and smaller  Sea Lynx  in European naval service. The final MHP entrant was EH Industries’ EH-101 in its naval form. This helicopter is similar to the SAR  CH-149 Cormorant but is based on the fully naval airframes used by Italy’s Marina Militaire. There is still a great deal of commonality between a utility grade CH-149s and naval EH-101s. The key objections to a naval EH-101 were political. [1]  Absurd as they may be, “lowest-cost compliant” rules fall outside our scope. [2]  Basically, the H-92 mates the dynamic system of the S-70 with an entirely new fuselage and undercarriage. The civil S-92 model has made some sales but, so far, Sikorsky has been unsuccessful in attracting a military customer for their H-92s. [3]  Production NH-90s will also employ fly-by-wire controls. Ironically, Sikorsky pioneered the composite construction techniques now employed by the NH-90s. <  Part 14  —  1994 Defence White Paper and Cormorant SAR Helicopters >  Part 16  —  “... We had joy,  we had fun;  we had Sea Kings in the Sun ...”