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| Front views of S-70i Helicopters in their Armed Black Hawk (ABH) configuration. Photo from the official Lockheed Martin account on Flickr |
The American Company Sikorsky Aircraft recently announced that they are offering an armed version of the S-70i Black Hawk Helicopter for the Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) Attack Helicopter requirement.
It will be produced by their PZL Mielec Manufacturing Plant in Poland, and if the Contract is finalized soon they are confident they can start the delivery in 2022 and complete it by 2023.1Sikorsky last year (2019) signed a Contract to supply 16 S-70i Helicopters to be used as Combat Utility Helicopters (CUH) to the PAF.2
’The ABH’
The official name for the armed S-70i Helicopter that Sikorsky is offering is the Armed Black Hawk (ABH) Weapons System which can be bought along with a new aircraft or as a Kit that can be retrofitted to existing Black Hawk Helicopters.
The ABH is the latest armed version of the S70/UH-60 Helicopter, other similar previous versions before include the MH-60 Defensive Air Penetrator (DAP) of the United States (US) Army3 and the AH-60 Arpia of the Columbian Air Force.4
Sikorsky also marketed an AH-60 Battle Hawk version before,5 but was unable to find a Customer for it. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the first Customer of the ABH having signed the Contract for them in 2019.6
’ABH Features’7 8
Since it is available in Kit form, the ABH Weapons System can be manually installed or removed as needed within 3 hours. The major parts of the Kit includes an Electro-Optical/Infra-Red (EO/IR) system, External Stores Support System (ESSS) and the Weapons themselves.
The ESSS are basically removable Stub Wings with Pylons that can carry various items like Weapons, Fuel Tanks, etc. The ABH Weapons System allows a lot of flexibility in what load to carry and how the configuration will be. For example, the ESSS can be removed and the aircraft used simply as a CUH that can carry 11 Troops with 2 7.62 x 51 mm Machine Gun (MG) for support.
Or it can retain the ESSS and carry Podded Weapons, and yet still allow the Seating of a lesser number of Passengers. Ultimately all the Passenger carrying capability can be removed altogether and installed in their place more ammunition for the Machine Guns, or even more manually operated Machine Guns.
’Comparisons’
I am comparing below the ABH to the other aircraft it is competing with for the PAF’s Attack Helicopter Program, which are the Turkish Aerospace Industries’ (TAI) T129 ATAK, Bell Textron’s AH-1Z Viper and Boeing Defense, Space and Security’s AH-64E Apache Guardian.9 10 11
CRUISING SPEED: This is the speed at which the aircraft can travel furthest with their fuel capacity, and here the ABH is at least 15 kph faster than the other aircraft.
EMPTY WEIGHT (EW): This means the weight with no Fuel and no Payload or Passengers, and here the ABH is around the same weight class as the AH-1Z and the AH-64E, which is more than twice as heavy as the ABH.
MAXIMUM TAKE OFF WEIGHT (MTOW): This means the weight that the aircraft can Take Off with Fuel, Payload and Passengers, and here it is around 400 kg lighter than the AH-64E, but much heavier than the AH-1Z or the T129.
PAYLOAD: This is the maximum load the aircraft can carry with full Internal Fuel, the ABH can carry around 500 kg less than the AH-64E, but at least 1,500 kg more than the AH-1Z or T129.
DISC LOADING: In terms of Disc Loading or the weight per square meter area exerted at the Rotor at the Helicopter’s MTOW, and surprisingly despite it being almost as heavy as the AH-64E, it has around the same value as the T129 or AH-1Z indicating it is as maneuverable as them, thanks to its large Rotor area.
INTERNAL FUEL FRACTION (IFF): This is the Fraction of the Weight of the Internal Fuel an aircraft carries compared to its MTOW, and here it has the lowest value compared to the other Aircraft, indicating likely less range. The ABH can carry External Fuel Tanks (EFT), but so can the other aircraft in the list.
’Gun Mounts’
One main difference between the ABH and Purpose-built Attack Helicopters like the T129, AH-1Z and AH64E is the type of Gun System it is equipped with. The ABH is equipped with Fixed, Forward Firing Guns under the control of the Pilots, which means that the entire aircraft have to be aimed at a target to fire the Guns.
Flexible mounts for the Machine Guns can be installed on the ABH behind the Cockpit, but these will not be under the control of the Pilots and need an additional, separate Crew to operate.
On the other hand, the T129/AH-1Z/AH-64E are equipped with Turret mounted Guns which can be aimed by the Pilots independently from the direction of the aircraft, making them faster to aim and allowing them to fire longer at a target during strafing runs.
’Gun Calibers’
Another difference is in the caliber of the Guns, as of now the ABH is only armed with up to .50 caliber Browning Machine Gun (BMG) Machine Guns while the T129/AH-1Z/AH-64E Helicopter are armed with much more powerful 20 x 102 mm or 30 x 113 mm caliber Cannons which have more power and penetration.
One way to illustrate the difference is in terms of the Kinetic Energy at the Muzzle of the Projectile that comes out of the Gun, also known as the “Muzzle Energy”. The 7.62 mm and .50 BMG ammunition only has MEs of around 3.5 and 18 kJ respectively whereas the values for the 20 and 30 mm Cannon rounds are much higher at 53 and 80 kJ.
’Machine Guns’
Despite being armed only with Machine Guns, the ABH does have considerably more firepower than the AW-109AH or MD-520MG Helicopters currently being used by the PAF in the Attack role. For example, the AW-109AH/MD-520MG only has two Pylons and thus can carry only one to two Machine Gun Pods (MGP). The ABH with its four Pylons can carry up to four .50 cal. MGPs.
An HMP400 MGP can carry up to 400 rounds of ammunition,12 but the ABH has the option to carry the GAU-15B .50 cal. Gatling Gun13 and can store up to 2,800 rounds of ammo for it. That’s seven times more ammunition than the HMP400.
On top of that, the ABH also can carry an additional two MG-134 7.62 x 51 mm cal. Miniguns,14 each with 1,200 rounds of ammo.
’Rockets and Loadouts’
In terms of Rockets, the AW-109AH/MD-520MG can only carry up to two seven-round 2.75 in. cal. Rocket Pods on two Pylons for a total of fourteen Rockets. The ABH though can carry up to four 19-round 2.75 in. Rocket Pods on four Pylons for maximum of 76 Rockets.
Based on the pictures and videos, a typical weapons loadout for the AW-109AH is two Rocket and Machine gun Pods (RMP) for a total of:
- Two Machine Guns with a total of 800 rounds of .50 cal. ammo
- Six 2.75 in. Rockets
The MD-520MG can probably also be armed the same way, but most of the time it seen only with one Machine Gun Pod and one seven-round 2.75 in. Rocket Pod.
A typical loadout though for an ABH in its pure Attack Configuration (meaning with no Passengers and the space and weight allocated for ammunition instead) can carry:
- Two GAU-19B Gatling Guns with a total of 5,600 rounds of .50 cal. ammo
- Two M134D Miniguns with a total of 2,400 rounds of 7.62 mm cal. ammo
- Two 19-round Rocket Pods with a total of 38 2.75 in. cal. Rockets
So based on these typical loadouts, one ABH would be roughly equivalent to at least six AW-109AH or MD-520MG Helicopters in terms of firepower.
’Operating Costs’
The Conklin and deDecker (CdD) website puts the Cost Per Flight Hour (CPFH) of the S-70i at Usd 2,48415 which is significantly cheaper than that of the AH-1Z (Usd 4,292) or the AH-64E (Usd 5,858).16
However, that data for the S-70i is for Corporate Use, with Military Use and with additional Systems the cost would likely be a little bit higher.
The CPFH of the AW-109 Power (rough equivalent to the AW-109AH) and the MD-520N (rough equivalent to the MD-520MG) from the same CdD website puts it a Usd 1,05517 and Usd 59618 respectively. This is two to four times lower than that of the S-70i.
’Parting Shot’
On the positive side, the ABH is expected to be cheaper to operate than the AH-1Z or the AH-64E. On the downside, it is expected to have less range at its MTOW compared to the AH-1Z or T129 and doesn't have a flexible, powerful Turret mounted Gun that can be controlled by the Pilots.
The ABH is basically like a much more heavily armed version of the AW-109AH or MD-520MG Helicopters that the PAF is currently using. It may be two to four times more expensive to operate than the AW-109AH or MD-520MG, but can provide around six times more firepower than them.
If this is suitable enough for the PAF’s current Attack Helicopter program, then it is definitely worth considering.
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| Side view of an S-70i Helicopter in its Armed Black Hawk (ABH) configuration. Photo from the official Lockheed Martin account on Flickr |
SOURCES:
- Sikorsky to pitch Armed Black Hawk to Philippines
- PAF awaits delivery of Super Tucano Planes, Black Hawk Choppers
- MH-60M Black Hawk Helicopter
- AH-60L Arpia IV
- AH-60L / S-70 Battle Hawk
- UAE's New Weaponized Black Hawks with ABH Kit
- Multi-Mission Lethality for the Attack
- Armed Black Hawk Kit install
- Lockheed Martin Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawk Helicopter
- AH-64E Apache at the Boeing Website
- AH-1Z Viper at the Bell Website
- FN Herstal Machine Gun Pods
- GAU-19/B .50 caliber Gatling Gun
- Dillon Aero M134D Minigun
- Conklin and deDecker S-70i Aircraft Cost Summary v 19.2
- Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Department of Defense (DoD) Fixed Wing and Helicopter Reimbursement Rates
- Conklin and deDecker AW-109 Power Aircraft Cost Summary v 19.2
- Conklin and deDecker MD-520N Aircraft Cost Summary v 19.2
the Russian MI 17 is much better and cheaper and little bigger than the Black Hawk heli. But the MI 17 was shelved off with of course US intervention as usual in Philippie afffairs. MI 17 is also being used by over 50 countries and is battle tested. It can be use for disaster relief and as attack heli and troop transport. its like having 3 birds in one stone. Its high time we be more independent in decision making and stop US intervention. we can achieve this only thru the politicians, officials be neutral country as possible in world affairs. Also the reason US interferes is because we are receiving grants and aid from them especially the AFP. In addition many of the AFP officials went to US military schools in one time or another. so many of the AFP officials are pro US. Im not saying we be anti US, but be more neutral and cooperate based on our own national insterests and not theirs or both national interests. if it only serves their interests then we are screwed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the Mi-17. As for the US' influence in the Philippines, they really made sure they have a lot of Filipino Dogs that will do their bidding. They are desperate to keep us, nobody else in South East Asia takes them seriously. Dito sa Pilipinas lang sila me nauuto, in other SEA Countries ... Pinagtatawanan lang sila.
Deleteits fine with me if they want to keep us permanently but our officials should demand and lobby for more and modern defense equipment from the US. if they want to keep a hold on us they may have to give in to our demands. like more drones especially attack drones, F16s jets, APCs, missile defense and missiles, etc. the problem is our leaders especially politicians were brainwashed to be the underdog to the US and just say yes sir. we need to change and demand more because we can tell the US to screw them and we go to Russia who is willing to give us soft loans and top of the line defense systems and equipment. we need new brave leaders who are not scared of the US.
DeleteOne problem with the US is that they have a habit of using Spare Parts as a Political Tool against Countries who does something they don't like.
DeleteThe Philippines experienced that when in the 1960s and 1970s, they withheld Spare Parts for our Air Force over the issue of Sabah. Both Indonesia and Egypt also experienced similar pressures.