Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-2003

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Aviation Systems

Major Professor

Robert B. Richards

Abstract

The MH-60S helicopter program is currently in the development stages of incorporating provisions for the Airborne Mine Countermeasures (AMCM) Mission and the Armed Helicopter Mission. The integration of these mission provisions represents a departure from the initial design goals of the MH-60S as solely a combat support helicopter. This aircraft will ultimately be expected to execute in excess of 18 different missions in place of seven existing aircraft rather than just serving as a replacement for the H-46 helicopter. Common to any aircraft program is the issue of weight growth. Weight growth has been cited as a major risk on this program in light of the fact that there will be provisions for both major mission areas in the final (FY 07) aircraft configuration. As a result of not anticipating specific design impacts associated with the requirement to perform a wide range of missions, the aircraft will not meet the requirements set forth in the Operational Requirements Document. The fact that a single aircraft will be taking the place of several aircraft that were implicitly designed for specific missions serves to further increase the gap between the requirements and the realized, as-designed performance. The specific weight issue can be further clarified by a discussion of weight growth over time and a study of how each mission area will add weight. Incident to this discussion is a comparison of aircraft performance versus the requirements and the associated shortfalls in range, time on station, and combat radius. There are many areas where weight can be shed. Weight reduction and performance enhancements have become unfunded program requirements, resulting in detailed analysis and considerations for postproduction changes to the aircraft. In this thesis, background and causal factors for the weight/performance issue will be analyzed. Candidates for weight reduction and performance enhancements that yield the greatest performance increase will be proposed.

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