Bell to Assess Potential MQ-8C Fatigue for US Navy

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The US Navy (USN) has awarded Bell Helicopter a USD3.3 million contract to investigate the potential for future flight strain, fatigue, and tail boom cracking on the Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned aircraft system (UAS).

The contract, which was awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) on 29 September and posted on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website on 5 October, will see Bell Helicopter use a company-owned 407 helicopter to investigate strain, fatigue, and cracking issues that might arise with the command flying the MQ-8C at higher weights and altitudes than those for which the civilian authorities have certified the original airframe.

According to NAVAIR, the 407 helicopter on which the MQ-8C is based is “the only known system configuration that meets the minimum requirements of the MQ-8C Fire Scout production”. It added that the sourcing, development, and fielding of an alternative platform would cost USD202 million and would take 28 months to achieve.

The notification did not say when the contract would be complete and the results of the study implemented. A Bell spokesperson was keen to stress that any future fatigue on the unmanned helicopter is purely hypothetical, telling IHS Jane’s , “We do not have a cracking problem on the MQ-8C.”

The USN’s total planned Fire Scout inventory is 30 Schweizer Aircraft 330-based MQ-8Bs and 40 MQ-8Cs. These 70 air vehicles will include 61 that are production funded, and nine that are research, development, test, and evaluation funded. Developed to provide an enhanced capability compared with the smaller MQ-8B, the MQ-8C has a range of about 150 n miles and a payload capacity of more than 317 kg.

 

Source: IHS Jane’s 360

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