Halberdgardia
18-02-2006, 00:58
UH-75 "Knighthawk" utility/assault helicopter
[Picture in progress.]
[Abstract]
For more than thirty years, the Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. UH-60 "Black Hawk" helicopter had been world-renowned for its extraordinary capabilities on the battlefield. Capable of carrying cargo, soldiers, even Presidents, it had been one of the mainstays of the U.S. military. Its winning combination of reliability, quality, and affordability had similarly made it the primary utility helicopter of the early Halberdgardian armed forces. However, as time passed and the nation's military was updated, it became increasingly clear that the UH-60, despite modernization programs aimed at keeping it viable on the battlefield, was lagging behind newer designs in use by other nations. Through sheer inertia, it had managed to remain in its place, but its stay of execution was finally waived when the Halberdgardian Air Force approached the aerospace engineers at the newly-expanded Consolidated Arms, Inc. and requested a design to replace the UH-60s still in service. Consolidated Arms gladly obliged, and the result was the UH-75 "Knighthawk," hoped to be seen as the worthy successor to the venerable UH-60.
[Airframe]
The engineers at Consolidated Arms knew that any UH-60 replacement, like its predecessor, would almost certainly be spun off into multiple variants with highly-disparate mission profiles, and so they were required to make most of the aircraft's components modular enough to cut down on logistics. The airframe is no exception. Anticipating the need for highly-durable armor in a variety of combat roles, the designers decided to use amorphous steel as the primary material in construction, giving the UH-75 a thirty-millimeter layer of amorphous steel.
Amorphous steel has molecular bonds that resemble those of a liquid more than a metal, and a hardness and strength more than double the best ultra-high-strength conventional steels. Whereas normal steel's molecular structure is crystalline, containing orderly rows and formations of atoms, amorphous substances have a highly-disordered arrangement of atoms. Because amorphous materials possess a non-crystalline structure in which the atoms arrange randomly, no crystallographic defects form, which is why they are so much stronger than their conventional counterparts. Compared with crystalline counterparts, amorphous materials usually show superior mechanical and temperature properties and corrosion resistance.
However, amorphous materials are more expensive to produce than their crystalline counterparts. But the engineers at Consolidated Arms had on hand -- appropriately enough -- old U.S. research on amorphous steel, which revealed the secret to the cheap production of amorphous steel: adding a small quantity of yttrium, which helps frustrate the onset of crystallization even as the liquid steel approaches its solidification temperature -- about 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,370 degrees Celsius). The steel could then be shaped with conventional melting and casting techniques, and could even be processed like plastic.
Yet there was another problem: amorphous steels, though strong, were brittle. The engineers at Consolidated Arms spent many trying weeks attempting to discover the solution, and finally discovered, after much experimentation, that allowing the amorphous steel to partially crystallize would solve the problem. The partial (though overall insubstantial) amount of crystallization in the steel allowed it to retain virtually the same strength of pure amorphous steel while eliminating brittleness.
[Propulsion]
During its time in service, the UH-60 was the world's most advanced twin-turbine military helicopter. It was powered by twin General Electric T700-GE-701C turboshaft engines, rated at 1,890 shp each, and was cleared for up to 22,000 lbs. gross weight internal load, and could carry up to 9,000 lbs. external load. While the Consolidated Arms engineers were normally loathe to tamper with arrangements that worked -- and worked well, in this particular case -- they realized that the next-generation successor to the UH-60 would not be able to get away with simply being on par with the Black Hawk. Therefore, the UH-75's designers went back to the drawing board and decided to perform a total update on the UH-60's engines.
The designers considered several types of propulsion methods, but eventually decided on an alternative to the conventional main-and-tail-rotor system. To increase the UH-75's aerodynamic qualities -- and decrease turbulence, noise, and vibration -- the tail rotor was replaced with a Fenestron ducted fan. The fan blades are constructed of titanium and fiberglass, and parts of the shroud are constructed of titanium, in order to offset the added weight of the Fenestron arrangement. Both rotors are powered a pair of by the newly-designed Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAH-100 free-turbine turboshafts, each rated at 3,500 shp, a net improvement of nearly 4,000 shp over the GE powerplants of the UH-60.
[Avionics]
The UH-75's avionics are a substantial improvement upon those of the Black Hawk's, as befitting the Knighthawk's role as the UH-60's next-generation successor. Navigational equipment includes GPS, Inertial Navigation System (INS), terrain-avoidance/terrain-following multi-mode RADAR, Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR), and a digital terrain map generator. This equipment is supplemented by such survivability systems as the Hover Infrared Suppression System (HIRSS), the HAPR-39A(V)1 RADAR-warning receiver, HALQ-144A IR jammer, RADAR- and missile-warning systems, and an HM-130 chaff dispenser. A Holographic Heads-Up Display (HHUD) and Advanced Voice Command System (AVCS) afford the pilots unparalleled capabilities when receiving, integrating, and utilizing in-flight information to their best advantage.
[Armament]
The UH-60 was not designed with the thought of frequently seeing front-line combat in mind, and as such, it was armed only with a pair of door-mounted 7.62mm miniguns, one on either side of the aircraft. While many deemed this adequate -- the UH-60 was never intended to be a front-line attack helicopter, after all -- the engineers at Consolidated Arms realized that the possibility of the UH-75 coming under heavier fire than its predecessor ever had was a very real threat. As such, the designers decided, in addition to using a stronger armor, that they would also improve upon the UH-60's armament for the UH-75. In the process, they ended up making their very own Gatling gun.
The engineers at Consolidated Arms desired a cannon that would be of sufficient caliber for anti-personnel and some anti-armor combat. They realized that the 7.62mm round would no longer suffice, and desired to upgrade from 7.62mm to 15.5mm, which they deemed sufficient for the UH-75's needs. However, much to their surprise, they discovered that they was no readily available pre-existing 15.5mm cannon they could mount on the Knighthawk. Forced to go to the drawing board, they eventually returned with the CAM-20 15.5mm double-barreled Gatling gun.
Based off the ASP-30 30mm machine gun, mounted on older U.S. APCs and IFVs, the CAM-20 is a new take on the Gatling gun concept. While older prototype 15.5mm cannons suffered from prohibitive weight penalties, weighing nearly as much as a 20mm Gatling gun, the engineers at Consolidated Arms managed to cut the CAM-20's weight down to approximately 77 lbs. (35 kg.) using more modern building materials and processes. The primary advantage of the double-barreled design is that, while the CAM-20 is of a smaller caliber than most other mounted vehicle weapons, it rivals the punch of a 20mm cannon, while allowing for more ammunition to be carried. The stopping power of the gun is increased upon further by the unusual design; a single CAM-20 gun is actually two six-barreled 15.5mm Gatling guns mounted side-by-side on a single mounting unit, allowing for a greater volume of fire and increased punch.
The CAM-20 is capable of firing high-explosive, kinetic-kill, and phosphorus tracer rounds. The UH-75 mounts three CAM-20s: one mounted in the fuselage below the cockpit, and two door-mounted guns, one on each side of the aircraft.
[AH-75 "Stormhawk"]
The attack variant of the UH-75, the Stormhawk trades space for carrying troops for the capability to pack more firepower and armor. The AH-75 boasts fifty millimeters of amorphous steel to ensure increased survivability in more dangerous scenarios than the UH-75 would encounter.
The armament of the AH-75 is also changed from the UH-75. Although the AH-75 loses the two door-mounted CAM-20 15.5mm Gatling guns of the UH-75, it makes up for this with increased ammunition for the remaining forward-mounted CAM-20 and the capability to strike more heavily-armored targets. Two stub wings, one affixed to each side, are each capable of mounting 40 2.75-inch folding fin aerial rockets, in addition to 16 laser-guided air-to-air or air-to-ground missiles equivalent in size to the Hellfire, allowing the AH-75 to act in an anti-armor role.
[MH-75 "Swifthawk"]
The MH-75 is essentially a hybrid between a modernized version of the MH-60 "Pave Hawk" and the MH-53 "Pave Low" helicopters; as such, it is primarily intended for long-range, stealthy infiltration/extraction operations. Capable of carrying 12 fully-laden Special Forces soldiers and any additional equipment they may require, the Swifthawk improves upon its predecessor in the areas of armament, speed, range, and stealth.
The MH-75 retains the armament of the UH-75, but has additional measures to make them stealthier. The forward-mounted CAM-20 can be completely covered by a sliding hatch to reduce RADAR signature, and the two door-mounted CAM-20s can be fully retracted into the vehicle's interior, though this can make a tight fit for the occupants inside. Judicious use of Brewster's Angle and RADAR-absorbant material (RAM) in the airframe construction further reduces the MH-75's already-miniscule RADAR return. In addition to these features -- in a nod to the F-150 "Ebonhawk" fighter-bomber and Tyrandisian innovation -- the Swifthawk's canopy is manufactured of an advanced polycarbonate, backed by a rubber insulation layer and a thin strip of an indium-tin alloy. Traditionally, the cockpit has been the most problematic area for advanced stealth designers; because RADAR waves passes through the canopy as if it were transparent, an especially strong signal will bounce back to its receiver because any aircraft interior contains angles and shape that generate a substantial return. The InSn coating allows over 98.5 percent of visible light to pass through to the pilot, but will appear on RADAR as a semi-metallic surface, thus further reducing the Swifthawk's already small RADAR cross-section.
In order to reduce the risk of acoustic detection, an eight-bladed Fenestron ducted fan inside a deep duct is utilized in lieu of a conventional tail rotor, as well as advanced new quieting technology. The Fenestron fan features low blade loading and low tip speeds, and the little noise it produces is narrowly focused out to the sides of the tail by the deep duct. Swifthawk engineers also located the fan and gearbox mounting structures off the rotational axis of the fan and on the exhaust side of the duct. This arrangement dampens the sound propagated by the fan, rather than amplifying it like the early versions of the Fenestron system. The duct greatly increases the efficiency and power of the fan, giving the Swifthawk tremendous performance in sideward flight. The Swifthawk also uses five, tapered, swept-tip main rotor blades in a bearingless hub. The five blades provide enough blade area to maintain low loading while allowing reduced blade chord and thickness for lower noise in high-speed flight. The Swifthawk also includes an advanced low-noise technology dubbed "quiet mode"; when the pilot selects "quiet mode" on the automatic flight control system (AFCS), the Swifthawk's computers slow the main rotor RPM while increasing pitch angle to maintain lift.Although the actual sound levels are secret, the lower tip speeds of the main rotor and the Fenestron fan result in significantly quieter operations.
[SH-75 "Wavehawk"]
The navalized variant of the UH-75, the SH-75's primary roles include combat search and rescue (CSAR), anti-submarine warfare (ASW), and anti-surface warfare (ASUW).
The Wavehawk features co-axial rotors instead of the main-rotor-and-Fenestron-fan system of the UH-75. The co-axial system is another alternative to the conventional tail rotor system; because the two rotors rotate in opposite direction on the same vertical axis, the opposing torque normally provided by the tail rotor is instead produced by the counteracting forces of the two main rotors, eliminating the need for a tail rotor. An additional benefit of the co-axial configuration is a high resistance to side winds, making it a perfect choice for the navalized version of the UH-75, where side winds are more common and can adversely affect helicopter operations.
The SH-75 features a slight increase of armor -- thirty-five millimeters of amorphous steel, up from thirty millimeters on the UH-75 -- and different weaponry than the UH-75. The Wavehawk retains all three CAM-20s, and can additionally mount two stub wings, each capable of holding external fuel tanks or Hellfire, Penguin, or Mk-46 torpedo equivalents.
[VH-75 "Marine One"]
Like its namesake, the VH-75 serves as a Presidential transportation alternative to limousines or Air Force One. Essentially an unarmed UH-75, it features a luxurious interior capable of seating eight. A sophisticated countermeasures suite ensures the occupants' safety against a wide variety of threats.
[Export]
All nations ordering the MH-75 "Swifthawk" variant, as well as requests for production rights for any and all variants, will be subject to background checks. Consolidated Arms reserves the right to refuse any order for any reason.
UH-75 "Knighthawk" Specifications
Classification: Utility/assault helicopter
Length: 70 ft. with rotors
Width: 9 ft.
Height: 13.5 ft.
Propulsion: 2 x Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAH-100 free-turbine turboshafts (7,000 shp total)
Range: 450 mi. without in-air refueling, 1,250 miles with auxiliary tanks; limited only by crew endurance with in-air refueling
Maximum Speed: 215 mph
Maximum Altitude: 23,000 ft.
Empty Weight: 14,000 lbs.
Maximum Weight: 30,000 lbs.
Maximum Payload: 3,500 lbs., or 15 combat-equipped troops (internal); 10,000 lbs. (external)
Armament: 3 x Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAM-20 15.5mm double-barreled Gatling guns
Crew: Four (two pilots, two crew chiefs)
Price: $20 million
Production Rights: $2.5 billion
AH-75 "Stormhawk" Specifications
Classification: Anti-personnel/anti-tank attack helicopter
Length: 60 ft. with rotors
Width: 9 ft.
Height: 13.5 ft.
Propulsion: 2 x Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAH-100 free-turbine turboshafts (7,000 shp total)
Range: 450 mi. without in-air refueling, 900 miles with auxiliary tanks; limited only by crew endurance with in-air refueling
Maximum Speed: 250 mph
Maximum Altitude: 26,000 ft.
Empty Weight: 13,000 lbs.
Maximum Weight: 25,000 lbs.
Armament: 1 x Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAM-20 15.5mm double-barreled Gatling gun; 2 x 40 2.75-inch folding fin aerial rockets, 2 x 16 Hellfire equivalents
Crew: Two (one pilot, one co-pilot/gunner)
Price: $30 million
Production Rights: $3 billion
MH-75 "Swifthawk" Specifications
Classification: Long-range infiltration/exfiltration transport helicopter
Length: 95 ft. with rotors
Width: 20 ft.
Height: 30 ft.
Propulsion: 2 x Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAH-100 free-turbine turboshafts (7,000 shp total)
Range: 800 mi. without in-air refueling; limited only by crew endurance with in-air refueling
Maximum Speed: 215 mph
Maximum Altitude: 23,000 ft.
Empty Weight: 22,000 lbs.
Maximum Weight: 50,000 lbs.
Maximum Payload: 10,000 lbs., or 40 combat-equipped troops
Armament: 3 x Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAM-20 15.5mm double-barreled Gatling guns
Crew: Six (two pilots, two flight engineers, two aerial gunners)
Price: $25 million
Production Rights: $5 billion
SH-75 "Wavehawk" Specifications
Classification: Carrier-based utility/assault helicopter
Length: 70 ft. with rotors
Width: 20 ft.
Height: 13.5 ft.
Propulsion: 2 x Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAH-100 free-turbine turboshafts (7,000 shp total)
Range: 450 mi. without in-air refueling, 1,250 miles with auxiliary tanks; limited only by crew endurance with in-air refueling
Maximum Speed: 200 mph
Maximum Altitude: 23,000 ft.
Empty Weight: 15,000 lbs.
Maximum Weight: 25,000 lbs.
Armament: 3 x Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAM-20 15.5mm double-barreled Gatling guns; 2 x 4 Hellfire missile, Penguin anti-shipping missile, or Mk-46 torpedo equivalents
Crew: Four (one pilot, one co-pilot, two door gunners) for combat operations; four (one pilot, one copilot, one tactical sensor operator, and one acoustic sensor operator) for submarine detection duties
Price: $25 million
Production Rights: $3 billion
VH-75 "Marine One" Specifications
Classification: VIP transport helicopter
Length: 70 ft. with rotors
Width: 9 ft.
Height: 13.5 ft.
Propulsion: 2 x Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAH-100 free-turbine turboshafts (7,000 shp total)
Range: 450 mi. without in-air refueling, 1,250 miles with auxiliary tanks; limited only by crew endurance with in-air refueling
Maximum Speed: 215 mph
Maximum Altitude: 23,000 ft.
Empty Weight: 14,000 lbs.
Maximum Weight: 30,000 lbs.
Maximum Payload: 1,500 lbs., or 8 passengers
Crew: Two (one pilot, one co-pilot)
Price: $20 million
Production Rights: $2 billion
[Picture in progress.]
[Abstract]
For more than thirty years, the Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. UH-60 "Black Hawk" helicopter had been world-renowned for its extraordinary capabilities on the battlefield. Capable of carrying cargo, soldiers, even Presidents, it had been one of the mainstays of the U.S. military. Its winning combination of reliability, quality, and affordability had similarly made it the primary utility helicopter of the early Halberdgardian armed forces. However, as time passed and the nation's military was updated, it became increasingly clear that the UH-60, despite modernization programs aimed at keeping it viable on the battlefield, was lagging behind newer designs in use by other nations. Through sheer inertia, it had managed to remain in its place, but its stay of execution was finally waived when the Halberdgardian Air Force approached the aerospace engineers at the newly-expanded Consolidated Arms, Inc. and requested a design to replace the UH-60s still in service. Consolidated Arms gladly obliged, and the result was the UH-75 "Knighthawk," hoped to be seen as the worthy successor to the venerable UH-60.
[Airframe]
The engineers at Consolidated Arms knew that any UH-60 replacement, like its predecessor, would almost certainly be spun off into multiple variants with highly-disparate mission profiles, and so they were required to make most of the aircraft's components modular enough to cut down on logistics. The airframe is no exception. Anticipating the need for highly-durable armor in a variety of combat roles, the designers decided to use amorphous steel as the primary material in construction, giving the UH-75 a thirty-millimeter layer of amorphous steel.
Amorphous steel has molecular bonds that resemble those of a liquid more than a metal, and a hardness and strength more than double the best ultra-high-strength conventional steels. Whereas normal steel's molecular structure is crystalline, containing orderly rows and formations of atoms, amorphous substances have a highly-disordered arrangement of atoms. Because amorphous materials possess a non-crystalline structure in which the atoms arrange randomly, no crystallographic defects form, which is why they are so much stronger than their conventional counterparts. Compared with crystalline counterparts, amorphous materials usually show superior mechanical and temperature properties and corrosion resistance.
However, amorphous materials are more expensive to produce than their crystalline counterparts. But the engineers at Consolidated Arms had on hand -- appropriately enough -- old U.S. research on amorphous steel, which revealed the secret to the cheap production of amorphous steel: adding a small quantity of yttrium, which helps frustrate the onset of crystallization even as the liquid steel approaches its solidification temperature -- about 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,370 degrees Celsius). The steel could then be shaped with conventional melting and casting techniques, and could even be processed like plastic.
Yet there was another problem: amorphous steels, though strong, were brittle. The engineers at Consolidated Arms spent many trying weeks attempting to discover the solution, and finally discovered, after much experimentation, that allowing the amorphous steel to partially crystallize would solve the problem. The partial (though overall insubstantial) amount of crystallization in the steel allowed it to retain virtually the same strength of pure amorphous steel while eliminating brittleness.
[Propulsion]
During its time in service, the UH-60 was the world's most advanced twin-turbine military helicopter. It was powered by twin General Electric T700-GE-701C turboshaft engines, rated at 1,890 shp each, and was cleared for up to 22,000 lbs. gross weight internal load, and could carry up to 9,000 lbs. external load. While the Consolidated Arms engineers were normally loathe to tamper with arrangements that worked -- and worked well, in this particular case -- they realized that the next-generation successor to the UH-60 would not be able to get away with simply being on par with the Black Hawk. Therefore, the UH-75's designers went back to the drawing board and decided to perform a total update on the UH-60's engines.
The designers considered several types of propulsion methods, but eventually decided on an alternative to the conventional main-and-tail-rotor system. To increase the UH-75's aerodynamic qualities -- and decrease turbulence, noise, and vibration -- the tail rotor was replaced with a Fenestron ducted fan. The fan blades are constructed of titanium and fiberglass, and parts of the shroud are constructed of titanium, in order to offset the added weight of the Fenestron arrangement. Both rotors are powered a pair of by the newly-designed Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAH-100 free-turbine turboshafts, each rated at 3,500 shp, a net improvement of nearly 4,000 shp over the GE powerplants of the UH-60.
[Avionics]
The UH-75's avionics are a substantial improvement upon those of the Black Hawk's, as befitting the Knighthawk's role as the UH-60's next-generation successor. Navigational equipment includes GPS, Inertial Navigation System (INS), terrain-avoidance/terrain-following multi-mode RADAR, Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR), and a digital terrain map generator. This equipment is supplemented by such survivability systems as the Hover Infrared Suppression System (HIRSS), the HAPR-39A(V)1 RADAR-warning receiver, HALQ-144A IR jammer, RADAR- and missile-warning systems, and an HM-130 chaff dispenser. A Holographic Heads-Up Display (HHUD) and Advanced Voice Command System (AVCS) afford the pilots unparalleled capabilities when receiving, integrating, and utilizing in-flight information to their best advantage.
[Armament]
The UH-60 was not designed with the thought of frequently seeing front-line combat in mind, and as such, it was armed only with a pair of door-mounted 7.62mm miniguns, one on either side of the aircraft. While many deemed this adequate -- the UH-60 was never intended to be a front-line attack helicopter, after all -- the engineers at Consolidated Arms realized that the possibility of the UH-75 coming under heavier fire than its predecessor ever had was a very real threat. As such, the designers decided, in addition to using a stronger armor, that they would also improve upon the UH-60's armament for the UH-75. In the process, they ended up making their very own Gatling gun.
The engineers at Consolidated Arms desired a cannon that would be of sufficient caliber for anti-personnel and some anti-armor combat. They realized that the 7.62mm round would no longer suffice, and desired to upgrade from 7.62mm to 15.5mm, which they deemed sufficient for the UH-75's needs. However, much to their surprise, they discovered that they was no readily available pre-existing 15.5mm cannon they could mount on the Knighthawk. Forced to go to the drawing board, they eventually returned with the CAM-20 15.5mm double-barreled Gatling gun.
Based off the ASP-30 30mm machine gun, mounted on older U.S. APCs and IFVs, the CAM-20 is a new take on the Gatling gun concept. While older prototype 15.5mm cannons suffered from prohibitive weight penalties, weighing nearly as much as a 20mm Gatling gun, the engineers at Consolidated Arms managed to cut the CAM-20's weight down to approximately 77 lbs. (35 kg.) using more modern building materials and processes. The primary advantage of the double-barreled design is that, while the CAM-20 is of a smaller caliber than most other mounted vehicle weapons, it rivals the punch of a 20mm cannon, while allowing for more ammunition to be carried. The stopping power of the gun is increased upon further by the unusual design; a single CAM-20 gun is actually two six-barreled 15.5mm Gatling guns mounted side-by-side on a single mounting unit, allowing for a greater volume of fire and increased punch.
The CAM-20 is capable of firing high-explosive, kinetic-kill, and phosphorus tracer rounds. The UH-75 mounts three CAM-20s: one mounted in the fuselage below the cockpit, and two door-mounted guns, one on each side of the aircraft.
[AH-75 "Stormhawk"]
The attack variant of the UH-75, the Stormhawk trades space for carrying troops for the capability to pack more firepower and armor. The AH-75 boasts fifty millimeters of amorphous steel to ensure increased survivability in more dangerous scenarios than the UH-75 would encounter.
The armament of the AH-75 is also changed from the UH-75. Although the AH-75 loses the two door-mounted CAM-20 15.5mm Gatling guns of the UH-75, it makes up for this with increased ammunition for the remaining forward-mounted CAM-20 and the capability to strike more heavily-armored targets. Two stub wings, one affixed to each side, are each capable of mounting 40 2.75-inch folding fin aerial rockets, in addition to 16 laser-guided air-to-air or air-to-ground missiles equivalent in size to the Hellfire, allowing the AH-75 to act in an anti-armor role.
[MH-75 "Swifthawk"]
The MH-75 is essentially a hybrid between a modernized version of the MH-60 "Pave Hawk" and the MH-53 "Pave Low" helicopters; as such, it is primarily intended for long-range, stealthy infiltration/extraction operations. Capable of carrying 12 fully-laden Special Forces soldiers and any additional equipment they may require, the Swifthawk improves upon its predecessor in the areas of armament, speed, range, and stealth.
The MH-75 retains the armament of the UH-75, but has additional measures to make them stealthier. The forward-mounted CAM-20 can be completely covered by a sliding hatch to reduce RADAR signature, and the two door-mounted CAM-20s can be fully retracted into the vehicle's interior, though this can make a tight fit for the occupants inside. Judicious use of Brewster's Angle and RADAR-absorbant material (RAM) in the airframe construction further reduces the MH-75's already-miniscule RADAR return. In addition to these features -- in a nod to the F-150 "Ebonhawk" fighter-bomber and Tyrandisian innovation -- the Swifthawk's canopy is manufactured of an advanced polycarbonate, backed by a rubber insulation layer and a thin strip of an indium-tin alloy. Traditionally, the cockpit has been the most problematic area for advanced stealth designers; because RADAR waves passes through the canopy as if it were transparent, an especially strong signal will bounce back to its receiver because any aircraft interior contains angles and shape that generate a substantial return. The InSn coating allows over 98.5 percent of visible light to pass through to the pilot, but will appear on RADAR as a semi-metallic surface, thus further reducing the Swifthawk's already small RADAR cross-section.
In order to reduce the risk of acoustic detection, an eight-bladed Fenestron ducted fan inside a deep duct is utilized in lieu of a conventional tail rotor, as well as advanced new quieting technology. The Fenestron fan features low blade loading and low tip speeds, and the little noise it produces is narrowly focused out to the sides of the tail by the deep duct. Swifthawk engineers also located the fan and gearbox mounting structures off the rotational axis of the fan and on the exhaust side of the duct. This arrangement dampens the sound propagated by the fan, rather than amplifying it like the early versions of the Fenestron system. The duct greatly increases the efficiency and power of the fan, giving the Swifthawk tremendous performance in sideward flight. The Swifthawk also uses five, tapered, swept-tip main rotor blades in a bearingless hub. The five blades provide enough blade area to maintain low loading while allowing reduced blade chord and thickness for lower noise in high-speed flight. The Swifthawk also includes an advanced low-noise technology dubbed "quiet mode"; when the pilot selects "quiet mode" on the automatic flight control system (AFCS), the Swifthawk's computers slow the main rotor RPM while increasing pitch angle to maintain lift.Although the actual sound levels are secret, the lower tip speeds of the main rotor and the Fenestron fan result in significantly quieter operations.
[SH-75 "Wavehawk"]
The navalized variant of the UH-75, the SH-75's primary roles include combat search and rescue (CSAR), anti-submarine warfare (ASW), and anti-surface warfare (ASUW).
The Wavehawk features co-axial rotors instead of the main-rotor-and-Fenestron-fan system of the UH-75. The co-axial system is another alternative to the conventional tail rotor system; because the two rotors rotate in opposite direction on the same vertical axis, the opposing torque normally provided by the tail rotor is instead produced by the counteracting forces of the two main rotors, eliminating the need for a tail rotor. An additional benefit of the co-axial configuration is a high resistance to side winds, making it a perfect choice for the navalized version of the UH-75, where side winds are more common and can adversely affect helicopter operations.
The SH-75 features a slight increase of armor -- thirty-five millimeters of amorphous steel, up from thirty millimeters on the UH-75 -- and different weaponry than the UH-75. The Wavehawk retains all three CAM-20s, and can additionally mount two stub wings, each capable of holding external fuel tanks or Hellfire, Penguin, or Mk-46 torpedo equivalents.
[VH-75 "Marine One"]
Like its namesake, the VH-75 serves as a Presidential transportation alternative to limousines or Air Force One. Essentially an unarmed UH-75, it features a luxurious interior capable of seating eight. A sophisticated countermeasures suite ensures the occupants' safety against a wide variety of threats.
[Export]
All nations ordering the MH-75 "Swifthawk" variant, as well as requests for production rights for any and all variants, will be subject to background checks. Consolidated Arms reserves the right to refuse any order for any reason.
UH-75 "Knighthawk" Specifications
Classification: Utility/assault helicopter
Length: 70 ft. with rotors
Width: 9 ft.
Height: 13.5 ft.
Propulsion: 2 x Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAH-100 free-turbine turboshafts (7,000 shp total)
Range: 450 mi. without in-air refueling, 1,250 miles with auxiliary tanks; limited only by crew endurance with in-air refueling
Maximum Speed: 215 mph
Maximum Altitude: 23,000 ft.
Empty Weight: 14,000 lbs.
Maximum Weight: 30,000 lbs.
Maximum Payload: 3,500 lbs., or 15 combat-equipped troops (internal); 10,000 lbs. (external)
Armament: 3 x Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAM-20 15.5mm double-barreled Gatling guns
Crew: Four (two pilots, two crew chiefs)
Price: $20 million
Production Rights: $2.5 billion
AH-75 "Stormhawk" Specifications
Classification: Anti-personnel/anti-tank attack helicopter
Length: 60 ft. with rotors
Width: 9 ft.
Height: 13.5 ft.
Propulsion: 2 x Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAH-100 free-turbine turboshafts (7,000 shp total)
Range: 450 mi. without in-air refueling, 900 miles with auxiliary tanks; limited only by crew endurance with in-air refueling
Maximum Speed: 250 mph
Maximum Altitude: 26,000 ft.
Empty Weight: 13,000 lbs.
Maximum Weight: 25,000 lbs.
Armament: 1 x Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAM-20 15.5mm double-barreled Gatling gun; 2 x 40 2.75-inch folding fin aerial rockets, 2 x 16 Hellfire equivalents
Crew: Two (one pilot, one co-pilot/gunner)
Price: $30 million
Production Rights: $3 billion
MH-75 "Swifthawk" Specifications
Classification: Long-range infiltration/exfiltration transport helicopter
Length: 95 ft. with rotors
Width: 20 ft.
Height: 30 ft.
Propulsion: 2 x Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAH-100 free-turbine turboshafts (7,000 shp total)
Range: 800 mi. without in-air refueling; limited only by crew endurance with in-air refueling
Maximum Speed: 215 mph
Maximum Altitude: 23,000 ft.
Empty Weight: 22,000 lbs.
Maximum Weight: 50,000 lbs.
Maximum Payload: 10,000 lbs., or 40 combat-equipped troops
Armament: 3 x Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAM-20 15.5mm double-barreled Gatling guns
Crew: Six (two pilots, two flight engineers, two aerial gunners)
Price: $25 million
Production Rights: $5 billion
SH-75 "Wavehawk" Specifications
Classification: Carrier-based utility/assault helicopter
Length: 70 ft. with rotors
Width: 20 ft.
Height: 13.5 ft.
Propulsion: 2 x Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAH-100 free-turbine turboshafts (7,000 shp total)
Range: 450 mi. without in-air refueling, 1,250 miles with auxiliary tanks; limited only by crew endurance with in-air refueling
Maximum Speed: 200 mph
Maximum Altitude: 23,000 ft.
Empty Weight: 15,000 lbs.
Maximum Weight: 25,000 lbs.
Armament: 3 x Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAM-20 15.5mm double-barreled Gatling guns; 2 x 4 Hellfire missile, Penguin anti-shipping missile, or Mk-46 torpedo equivalents
Crew: Four (one pilot, one co-pilot, two door gunners) for combat operations; four (one pilot, one copilot, one tactical sensor operator, and one acoustic sensor operator) for submarine detection duties
Price: $25 million
Production Rights: $3 billion
VH-75 "Marine One" Specifications
Classification: VIP transport helicopter
Length: 70 ft. with rotors
Width: 9 ft.
Height: 13.5 ft.
Propulsion: 2 x Consolidated Arms, Inc. CAH-100 free-turbine turboshafts (7,000 shp total)
Range: 450 mi. without in-air refueling, 1,250 miles with auxiliary tanks; limited only by crew endurance with in-air refueling
Maximum Speed: 215 mph
Maximum Altitude: 23,000 ft.
Empty Weight: 14,000 lbs.
Maximum Weight: 30,000 lbs.
Maximum Payload: 1,500 lbs., or 8 passengers
Crew: Two (one pilot, one co-pilot)
Price: $20 million
Production Rights: $2 billion