Korea South-Korea Attack & Utility Helicopter Programs

[urban mine]

+

 

[Slayer]

Side by side and chin mounted gun - how does that compute? Doesn't tandem make more sense?

 

[urban mine]

Side by side and chin mounted gun - how does that compute? Doesn't tandem make more sense?

There was a lot of controversy in South Korea on that issue.

On its official YouTube channel, KAI stated that the Side by Side is not particularly inferior to the Tandem. It was said that the side-by-side design is vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire because it increases the frontal area of the helicopter, but KAI responded that the helicopter's major systems are redundant and separate, so even if one system is hit and loses functionality, the other system can still operate normally. They said that being hit does not immediately lead to the loss of the aircraft, and that the best way to increase survivability is to fly the mission away from enemy detection.

So, to put it more simply, KAI's view is that seat design is not that big of an issue on the modern battlefield, and the ROC of the South Korean Marines did not point this out either.

 

[Slayer]

There was a lot of controversy in South Korea on that issue.

On its official YouTube channel, KAI stated that the Side by Side is not particularly inferior to the Tandem. It was said that the side-by-side design is vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire because it increases the frontal area of the helicopter, but KAI responded that the helicopter's major systems are redundant and separate, so even if one system is hit and loses functionality, the other system can still operate normally. They said that being hit does not immediately lead to the loss of the aircraft, and that the best way to increase survivability is to fly the mission away from enemy detection.

So, to put it more simply, KAI's view is that seat design is not that big of an issue on the modern battlefield, and the ROC of the South Korean Marines did not point this out either.

If the gunner sits to the right, the whole left side is going to be blind. In tandem you have much better overall view.

 

[urban mine]

If the gunner sits to the right, the whole left side is going to be blind. In tandem you have much better overall view.

Yes. The test pilot at KAI said that the problems you mentioned can be solved with good communication and division of labor between the two pilots. Honestly, if we really want to make an attack helicopter, I think it's better to do what you said, but the current MAH seems to be developed without design changes to save development time and budget. Korea's MAH program was a competition between the AH-1Z, KAI's MAH model, and the AH-64E. Budget and survivability were the outcome of this project. It seems that the ROK Marines wanted the AH-1Z, but KAI's MAH passed the ROC well enough that they eventually had to accept it.

 

[urban mine]

영화에 나왔던 그 헬기, 한국군이 1조원 들여 바꾼다 [박수찬의 軍]

UH-60. 세계 각국에서 쓰이는 군용 헬기 중에서 가장 유명한 기종으로 꼽히는 헬기다. ‘블랙 호크’라는 별명으로 더 유명한 UH-60은 1979년에 첫 실전배치가 이뤄진 이래 지금까지도 신규 생산이 이뤄지는 스테디셀러다. 영화 ‘블랙호크 다운’ ‘12 솔져스’ ‘제로 다크...

www.segye.com

South Korea has licensed and produced more than 130 UH-60Ps since the 1990s. These helicopters are operated by several branches of the military, including the Army, Navy, and Air Force, with the Air Force in particular converting some of its fleet to SAR and operating them in SART.

However, over time, there was growing concern that the UH/HH60s operated by the South Korean military were becoming obsolete and difficult to support the penetration of the Army and Air Force's special warfare units. To address this, a project to upgrade 36 helicopters for infiltration by special warfare forces will begin in earnest this year.

The companies that will carry out this upgrade program will be selected by KAI and Korean Air, respectively, competing in a consortium.

First, it is the Korean Air consortium with LIG Nex1,Collins Aerospace. Korean Air is a company with experience in producing UH-60P licenses and is in charge of system integration, design, and testing, while LIG Nex1 is in charge of survival and communication equipment. LIG Nex1 will localize and present DIRCM together with BIRD Aerospace Systems of Israel.

Most media expect it to be based on SPREOS DIRCM. Other than this, LIG Nex1 is expected to supply survival and communication equipment based on its experience in developing electronic equipment used in Surion transport helicopters and Miron attack helicopters. Collins Aerospace is responsible for improving navigation systems and cockpit.



The competitors are KAI, Hanwha Systems, and Elbit Systems consortium. Like Korean Air, KAI oversees the entire program and is responsible for system development and integration. Hanwha Systems and Elbit Systems are responsible for Self-Protection Suits and Airframe Modification.

Hanwha System has been presenting its DIRCM, MWR, and RWR. In particular, DRICM is likely to be selected first for the improvement of military helicopters in South Korea in the future as equipment that currently goes into the C-130H 2nd performance improvement program.
It is expected to be in charge of the integration of Elbit Systems Digital Cockpit and several avionics.

The period of this performance improvement program is seven years from the start of development, so it will be completed by the early 30s.