Northrop KC-30 tanker, Boeing HH-47 helo unveiled

Northrop KC-30 tanker, Boeing HH-47 helo unveiled
BY: Marc Selinger, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
09/09/2005

Contractors have unveiled proposals for two new military aircraft variants: the Northrop Grumman KC-30 tanker and the Boeing HH-47 combat-search-and-rescue helicopter.

Northrop Grumman announced Sept. 7 that it plans to offer the KC-30, a modified version of the Airbus A330 commercial airliner, if the U.S. Air Force holds a competition to replace the KC-135 tanker.
Also on Sept. 7, Boeing spokesmen told The DAILY that their the company intends to propose the HH-47, a new variant of the CH-47 Chinook helicopter, for the Air Force’s Combat Search and Rescue-X (CSAR-X) competition.

For the potential tanker competition, Northrop Grumman would team with EADS North America, which would build the basic aircraft in Mobile, Ala. Northrop Grumman, which touted its experience converting commercial aircraft for military missions, hopes to select a site for the KC-30 military modifications “in the next few months,” a company spokesman told The DAILY.

“We have carefully analyzed the competitive landscape and the expected requirements for the Air Force’s program of record and believe that the KC-30 will offer enhanced capabilities to the warfighter in range, fuel capacity and mission flexibility,” said Scott Seymour, president of Northrop Grumman’s Integrated Systems sector.

Boeing indicated earlier that it would offer a modified version of its 767 airliner for a KC-135 replacement program. A Defense Department-commissioned study of options for modernizing the Air Force tanker fleet is due to be completed in mid-October and is expected to recommend buying some sort of new aircraft. However, an Air Force official said in August that the need may actually be greater for large tankers, similar to the Air Force’s KC-10, (DAILY, Aug. 3).

For the CSAR-X competition, the HH-47 will be based on the MH-47G flown by Army special operations forces. The Bell-Boeing V-22 tiltrotor aircraft, the Lockheed Martin-AgustaWestland-Bell Helicopter Textron US101 helicopter and Sikorsky’s H-92 helicopter have already lined up as competitors for CSAR-X, which is designed to replace the aging HH-60G Pave Hawk combat-search-and-rescue helicopter.

The Air Force is expected to release a final request for proposals for CSAR-X as early as this month.

Boeing and Northrop Grumman plan to reveal more details about their new aircraft variants at the Air Force Association’s annual conference in Washington next week.

Source: http://aimpoints.hq.af.mil/display.cfm?id=6440