SH-2G Seasprite Soldiers On

Impressive for such an old bird!

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FEATURE
Date Posted: 16-Apr-2004

JANE’S NAVY INTERNATIONAL – MAY 01, 2004

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Second coming for the Super Seasprite
Richard Scott, Grzegorz Holdanowicz and Ian Bostock

Almost 45 years after a prototype of Kaman’s Seasprite helicopter first flew, the latest development of the type – the SH-2G Super Seasprite – continues to spread its rotors in international service. Richard Scott, Grzegorz Holdanowicz and Ian Bostock report.

It was back in July 1959 that the first prototype of what was to become the UH-2A – progenitor of the Seasprite line – made its maiden flight. Designed by the Kaman Aircraft Corporation, the UH-2 filled a US Navy (USN) requirement for a compact utility helicopter to perform high-speed search and rescue: powered by a single General Electric T38-GE-8B engine, it was able to fly 200nm at sea in all weathers, recover 11 persons while in the hover and then transit 200nm unassisted by external navigation aids.

Further development resulted in a more capable, twin-engine design offering much-improved safety and load-lifting performance. It was this same basic aircraft that ultimately became the basis for the SH-2D and SH-2F Seasprite helicopters that operated from USN destroyers and frigates as part of a first-generation Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System (LAMPS I). First fielded in the early 1970s, LAMPS I was designed to provide surface units with an organic means of detecting and prosecuting hostile submarines out to the radar horizon. Data from airdropped sonobuoys was relayed by an AKT-22 datalink for processing aboard ‘mother’, which then vectored in the LAMPS helicopter to attack with lightweight torpedoes (target localisation being aided by ASQ-81(V) magnetic anomaly detector [MAD] gear fitted on board). The LAMPS I mission suite also featured an LN-66HP radar and ALR-66 electronic support measures (ESM) for above-water surveillance and targeting.

In late 1987 a total of 16 SH-2Fs were given a theatre fit for improved self-protection while deployed to the Persian Gulf. This included ALQ-144 infrared (IR) countermeasures, a turreted AAQ-16 Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) system, door-mounted M-60 machine guns, and ALE-39 chaff and flare dispensers.

The further upgraded SH-2G – christened the Super Seasprite to reflect its substantial increase in capability – was developed from the SH-2F and first flew in prototype form in 1985. This was the definitive USN marque, incorporating a new Mil-Std-1553B/ASN-150 avionics architecture, twin General Electric T700-GE-401 engines and a modified transmission system. Another major change was the incorporation of an onboard UYS-503 acoustic processor, giving the Super Seasprite an autonomous submarine-hunting capability. However, the SH-2G was to see only limited service with the USN. Formally accepted into service in February 1993, it equipped two US naval reserve squadrons (HSL-84 on the west coast and HSL-94 on the east coast) but was retired prematurely in 2001 after both units were disestablished as a result of budget cuts.

New horizons

It might have been assumed that Kaman’s stalwart sub-hunter would fade away into rotary-wing history as its career in the USN drew to a close. But the reverse is in fact true: what is today Kaman Aerospace has over the past decade actively sought to carve out a niche for a multimission SH-2G in the international market for maritime intermediate-weight helicopters, offering new-build airframes and surplus USN aircraft refurbished and/or rebuilt after desert storage.

Kaman’s sales pitch for the SH-2G is built around its proven in-service performance, demonstrated versatility, continued technology insertion and incremental growth potential. The basic airframe has proved its robustness and reliability over many thousands of hours of USN operations, and the aircraft has shown itself adept at a wide range of tasks – from anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASuW) and surface surveillance through to vertical replenishment, load lifting and personnel transfer.

The new T700-GE-401 powerplant, delivering up to 1,723shp, affords a healthy power margin and excellent one-engine inoperative performance and safety. Flight testing has taken the SH-2G to a maximum all-up weight of 13,800 lb (6,260kg), although design gross weight remains 13,500 lb (6,124kg).

And while the USN had biased the SH-2F and SH-2G towards the ASW mission, Kaman recognised that international users required a true maritime multimission capability. As a result the company has endeavoured to extend avionics and sensor suite options (including sonics, radar, ESM and electro-optics) to better match the demands of individual export customers, and to offer further through-life growth potential.

The Super Seasprite’s four external stores stations can take combinations of lightweight torpedoes, anti-ship missiles (flight compatibility tests have been undertaken with Sea Skua, Hellfire, Penguin and Maverick), MAD equipment or 100-gallon auxiliary fuel tanks. A small-arms mounting can be fitted in the cabin door for self-defence or force protection Furthermore, the availability of redundant USN airframes from storage means that Kaman has been able to offer prospective customers the option of either new-build aircraft, regenerated SH-2Gs, or SH-2Fs remanufactured to ‘as new’ SH-2G standard. The latter course involves the disassembly, stripping and inspection of the existing airframe, full marinisation treatment, the installation of a new titanium roof section and subsequent fitting out with all-new wiring, hydraulic and fuel lines, flight-control rods, transmission, T700 engines and 30KVA generators. Fatigue testing has demonstrated a 10,000-hour ‘new’ fatigue life for remanufactured airframes.

Kaman also offers second-generation composite main rotor blades (CMRB2) with a 15,000-hour projected service life. Claimed to have four times the service life of metal blades, the CMRB2 design is based on blade technology developed for the USN, but with a modified afterbody and graphite servo-flap.

However, the reinvigoration of the Super Seasprite for the international market has not been without problems. The development of an automated two-crew Integrated Tactical Avionics System (ITAS) has been a costly exercise for Kaman, causing significant delays to its single biggest export programme and an adverse impact on the company balance sheet.

Australian ambitions

Capturing Project SEA 1411 – the competition to provide the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) with an intermediate helicopter for operations from ANZAC-class frigates – represented Kaman’s single biggest success in the international maritime helicopter market. But it also constituted a considerable challenge to the company, obliging it to assume the role of prime contractor for the design, integration and delivery of a fully functioning integrated weapon system requiring a significant degree of new development.

Today valued at around A$1 billion (US$735 million), Project SEA 1411 arose from a requirement to procure a new shipborne helicopter to equip the RAN’s eight new ANZAC frigates and up to 12 projected offshore patrol combatants (OPCs). The capability agreed by the Department of Defence’s Force Structure Policy and Programming Committee in December 1994 was for the acquisition of 14 helicopters to satisfy ANZAC ship requirements, with an option for up to nine more to satisfy the OPC requirement. In the event, the OPC programme was cancelled and SEA 1411 re-titled as the ANZAC Ship Helicopter project.

The subsequent Request for Tenders (RfT) specified a helicopter fitted with sensors and communications weapons to enable it to operate well beyond the parent ship (and its visual and electronic horizon) with a secure datalink for tactical information. Its primary mission would be ASuW, providing the ship with an enhanced ability to detect, intercept, track, classify, identify and (with its own air-to-surface missile) engage surface contacts.

Kaman responded to the RfT with the SH-2G(A), an advanced Super Seasprite variant customised to meet the RAN’s specific operational requirements. The most significant area of development was a completely new avionics architecture, this being driven by the requirement for a two-man crew (rather than the three of the basic SH-2G).

Partnered by what was then Litton Guidance & Control Systems, Kaman proposed an advanced ITAS suite that was specifically tailored to meet the RAN’s requirements. This replaced the existing analogue instrumentation with a highly automated glass cockpit, displaying both flight instrumentation data and tactical information, designed to be operated by a single pilot and a tactical co-ordinator/sensor operator.

With regard to the air-to-surface missile, Kaman promoted the ability of the Super Seasprite to carry the IR-guided Kongsberg Mk 2 Mod 7 Penguin anti-ship missile. This was the most capable missile solution on offer to the RAN – and a choice unavailable to the competing GKN Westland Super Lynx on the grounds of its all-up weight.

Kaman (backed by an industry team comprising Litton, General Electric, Transfield Defence Systems, CSC Australia, Scientific Management Associates [SMA] and Safe Air of New Zealand) was announced as preferred tenderer for Project SEA 1411 in January 1997. In the event the offtake was reduced to 11 aircraft to stay within the approved programme budget, with a contract worth A$662 million signed on 26 June 1997 and calling for first deliveries to begin in early 2001.

An additional A$125 million contract award to Kaman provides for the establishment and operation of an SH-2G(A) in-service support centre and 10 years of logistic support. As such, Kaman is responsible for providing training for both aircrew and aircraft maintainers, technical support, software upgrades, publication updates, operation of the full mission flight simulator at Naval Air Station (NAS) Nowra, warehousing and management of the repair pipeline for type-specific equipment.

All SH-2G(A) airframes are former USN SH-2Fs, recovered from storage in the Aircraft Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, and then refurbished at Kaman’s facility in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Safe Air Ltd has responsibility for reassembly after shipment to Australia.

Production prototype flight testing of the SH-2G(A) began at Bloomfield in early 2000. Initial testing concentrated on dynamic components and instrumentation to check the function of the basic air vehicle. Follow-on testing progressively expanded the flight envelope, with ITAS avionics functionality to be expanded through a series of software increments.

The SH-2G(A) cockpit features four active-matrix liquid-crystal colour multifunction displays, two data-entry and display units, and two redundant mission computers (all previous electro-mechanical instruments are eliminated with the exception of back-up airspeed and altitude gauges and a standby compass). A dedicated threat-warning display is tied to the integrated self-protection suite incorporating radar, laser and missile-warning receivers.

EFIS (electronic flight instrumentation system) symbology, tactical data and sensor imagery, plus engine, aircraft systems and weapon pages can be called up by either crew member on any display using programmable bezel buttons. Data entry and communications and navigation management are performed using the twin smart display units in the centre console.

A multislew controller in the left-hand seat allows the tactical co-ordinator to steer sensors and display cursors to bring up selected data; a hands-on cyclic and collective stick design also allows the pilot to access tactical data. Flight plans prepared using a ground-based mission-planning system can be uploaded to the aircraft using a Kaman-Raymond digital dataloader facility.

The navigation suite is based on dual LN100G GPS/INS units (with embedded Rockwell-Collins GEM III GPS). Other avionics subsystems include an APN-194 radar altimeter, ARN-149 LF/ADF, MDF-124 VHF/UHF ADF and an APX-100 IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) transponder. Communications comprise two Rockwell-Collins ARC-210(2) Model 1794(C) VHF/UHF radios, a single Rockwell-Collins HF-9000D HF radio (with KY-100 secure encryption), satellite communications (embedded in ARC-210) and Link 11.

Integrated into the ITAS suite via a dual 1553B databus, the SH-2G(A) mission package includes a Telephonics APS-143B(V)3 radar with inverse synthetic-aperture radar capability, a Raytheon AAQ-27 3-5µm FLIR and an Elisra AES-210E ESM/RWR (integrated with an Elisra LWS-20 laser warning system, a Northrop Grumman AAR-54 missile approach warning system and a BAE Systems North America ALE-47 countermeasures dispensing system). Selected weapon systems comprise the Mk 46 Mod 5 lightweight torpedo (to be replaced by the MU90 Impact under Project Djimindi) and the Mk 2 Mod 7 Penguin anti-ship missile (being procured from Kongsberg under the associated Project SEA 1414).

Shipborne entrapment and recovery of the SH-2G(A) will be effected using the Indal Technologies RAST (Recovery Assist Secure and Traverse) system. RAST is already used by the RAN for recovery and deck handling of the S-70B-2 Seahawk.

ITAS delays

An initial ITAS software build – incorporating electronic flight instrumentation and basic communications functionality – began flight testing in mid-2000. But by late 2000 it had become clear to Kaman and its customer that the ITAS software development programme had fallen seriously behind track. ITAS subcontractor Litton Guidance & Control Systems had failed to achieve its contracted development milestones and, amid claims of ‘requirements creep’ and counter-claims of under-resourcing, its relationship with Kaman descended into acrimony.

Arbitration ensued after Litton announced its decision to withdraw from the project. A final settlement was reached in April 2001 that saw Litton paid off and Kaman receive a software integration laboratory, and software and intellectual property rights to the Build 1 software. But the corollary was a three-year delay to the programme, a significant cost penalty to be absorbed by Kaman – and an aircraft that did not meet its contracted specification.

As a result, the Commonwealth refused to accept the first aircraft when it arrived in country in September 2001. While Kaman argued that the aircraft – minus ITAS – could still fly, navigate and perform basic secondary missions, the Defence Materiel Organisation maintained that the Super Seasprite was “not fit for the original purpose”, and that to use any of the delivered aircraft in the utility role might prejudice options to pursue “legal remedies” should Kaman and its subcontractors fail to deliver the required capability. Kaman’s recovery effort has seen ITAS development restructured, with CSC Australia and Northrop Grumman Information Technologies brought aboard in November 2001 to complete software development. Bringing in CSC Australia and others to fill the void left by Litton has in fact resulted in the original target for Australian industry involvement being exceeded by around 25%.

Kaman presented the first aircraft for production acceptance in July 2003, following the Commonwealth’s decision to enable provisional acceptance upon completion earlier in the year of avionics software Critical Design Reviews. The aircraft was provisionally accepted as an Interim Training Helicopter on 18 October, allowing the RAN to commence training and conduct test and evaluation activities in advance of the full weapons system capability being delivered. Ten aircraft have now been delivered to NAS Nowra (the last aircraft will remain in the USA for continuing flight tests until late 2004).

Kaman, together with CSC Australia and Northrop Grumman Information Technology, is continuing the development of operational system software in parallel with aircrew training and shipboard interface testing. CSC Australia is handling overall system integration, and is also under contract for Block 2A software (which integrates the APS-143B(V)3 radar, AAQ-27 FLIR and AES-210 ESM). Northrop Grumman Information Technology meanwhile is responsible for the development of Block 2B (tactical picture and Link 11 integration) and Block 3 software (which integrates the digital automatic flight-control system). Training activities have ramped up in parallel with the staged acceptance process. Maintainers from 805 Squadron (the SH-2G(A) parent unit) completed a four-month training programme in November 2003, this being followed by aircrew training (undertaken by local partner SMA) to support the RAN’s operational test and evaluation programme. A first landing aboard an ANZAC-class frigate (HMAS Warramunga) was made on 5 November while the ship was alongside in Garden Island, Sydney. Over the next two days the 805 Squadron aircraft remained embarked in order that physical interface issues (such as lash-down, deck handling and stowage) could be evaluated.

The RAN’s Flight Trials Unit and 805 Squadron will conduct a series of land tests, at-sea flight trials and testing on board ANZAC-class frigates through 2004. These trials will involve flight and operational procedures and preparation of aircrew, technicians and the necessary support infrastructure. First of Class Flight Trials (FOCFT) are scheduled for late April/early May.

Flight trials and FOCFT are being flown under a special flying permit. The Commonwealth is looking towards an SH-2G(A) training and utility capability under an Australian Military Type Certificate sometime in the second quarter of 2004. Delivery of the full capability of the ITAS weapons system software is planned by the end of 2004.

A full mission flight simulator has been delivered by CAE Electronics and resides in the new SH-2G(A) support centre run by Kaman alongside HMAS Albatross at Nowra. The facility will be central to all future software development and testing and is home base to the respective personnel from the SH-2G(A) industry team: Kaman Aerospace, CSC Australia (software development and support), SMA (integrated logistic support and training) and Safe Air Ltd (aircraft production, maintenance and engineering support).

Integration of the Penguin anti-ship missile into the SH-2G(A) mission system cannot be completed until ITAS development itself is finished. As a result, operational test and evaluation activities will not get under way until next year: the missile and associated onboard systems will be tested to ensure that the missile performs as intended and is able to accomplish the tasks as per the RAN’s functional specification and operational requirements.

Kaman’s goal is to deliver a fully functioning SH-2G(A) by the end of 2004 (by which time the RAN will be in receipt of all 11 aircraft). For its part, the RAN will undertake operational test and evaluation throughout most of 2005. It is understood that aircraft will be able to embark aboard ANZAC frigates towards the latter part of next year, with an initial operational capability expected in the first half of 2006.

Kiwi experience

While Australia’s naval aviators await the arrival of the SH-2G(A) on the front line, their counterparts across the Tasman Sea have to date clocked up three years’ operating experience with their fleet of five SH-2G(NZ) Super Seasprites. This was itself presaged by a three-year period of interim operations with the SH-2F Seasprite to bridge the gap between the retirement of the elderly Westland Wasp and the arrival of the SH-2G(NZ). Having operated the venerable Wasp successfully from frigates for 32 years, the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) finally phased out the type in April 1998. Efforts to procure a successor type had in fact begun as long ago as 1988 when a project definition study activity was conceived under the auspices of Project Amokura. An acquisition programme was eventually incarnated as the Replacement Naval Helicopter (RNH) but it was not until March 1997, following evaluation of rival bids from Kaman and Westland (offering the Super Lynx), that the decision was made to procure the Super Seasprite to meet the RNH requirement. Australia’s selection of the SH-2G(A) just two months beforehand was undoubtedly a significant factor in the decision-making process. Operating an essentially common type offered enhanced interoperability and, perhaps more importantly to New Zealand, access to a common logistic support infrastructure.

A US$185 million contract for the delivery of four aircraft configured to SH-2G(NZ) standard was signed in June 1997 (the fifth was ordered under a US$30 million contract signed in July 1999). But it was recognised that a stopgap capability was required to fill in between the imminent departure of the Wasp and the arrival of the SH-2G(NZ); so as part of the purchase agreement Kaman undertook to supply the RNZN with four SH-2F Seasprites as an interim phase of the RNH project. These arrived by sea in late 1997, along with a fifth airframe for use as a source of spare parts.

In the event, only three SH-2F aircraft were returned to flying condition after undergoing a comprehensive restoration and inspection procedure. Limited manpower, parts availability and budget considerations mitigated against the reactivation of the fourth airframe, which was instead stripped for spares common to the SH-2F and SH-2G (there is about 75% commonality between the two models).

While the SH-2F was always envisaged as an interim solution by the RNZN, the type nevertheless won high praise from aircrew in the Naval Support Flight (somewhat unique in that it is administered and supported by 3 Squadron Royal New Zealand Air Force). It performed admirably as a training and familiarisation asset to enable the transition from Wasp to Super Seasprite, and heralded the rebirth of the observer branch in the RNZN. Furthermore, and flying in the face of all prior assumptions, it was able to demonstrate its operational value on the front line in 1999, when SH-2F ships’ flights were deployed aboard RNZN frigates into the waters of the Timor Sea (HMNZS Canterbury) and Persian Gulf (HMNZS Te Kaha) in support of UN operations.

The arrival of the definitive RNH from 2001 brought a close to the short but productive career of the SH-2F in New Zealand service. The first two SH-2G(NZ) Super Seasprites were the subject of a formal handover and roll-out at Whenupai on 18 August 2001, with the third and fourth airframes arriving later that year. The fifth and final SH-2G(NZ) followed in February 2003: all five aircraft were built and test-flown by Kaman, disassembled for shipment to New Zealand, then reassembled in country by Safe Air.

While the RAN’s SH-2G(A) model required significant new development in its avionics and tactical systems, the RNZN was a far more risk-adverse customer. It specified a less-advanced but lower-risk two-crew analogue cockpit, and also took the decision to procure new-build airframes rather than refurbished aircraft (arguing that fatigue life uncertainties on even one airframe could have a disproportionate impact on such a small fleet).

Based around the earlier ASN-150/1553B tactical data system (which incorporates its own non-synchronous datalink), the SH-2G(NZ) mission fit features a Telephonics APS-143(V)3 radar, a FLIR Systems AAQ-22 FLIR system and a Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems LR-100 ESM. A BAE Systems North America ALE-47 countermeasures dispenser system provides self-defence against radar and IR-guided missile threats.

While retaining an analogue cockpit based on the proven ASN-150 tactical navigation system, the SH-G(NZ) has received selected avionics and communications enhancements. These include a Trimble TASMAN GPS receiver, two Rockwell-Collins ARC-210 VHF/UHF radios and a single Rockwell-Collins HF-9000D HF radio.

A Harpoon deck lock is used to recover the SH-2G(NZ) in high sea states, with a MacTaggart Scott Trigon three-wire traversing system used to move the helicopter into the ship’s hangar. While other SH-2G variants use a 1,500psi hydraulic system, the SH-2G(NZ) has a 3,000psi system (the additional pressure required to operate the deck lock).

The Raytheon AGM-65D Maverick TV-guided air-to-surface missile will equip the SH-2G(NZ) in the anti-surface role. A Maverick firing trial was undertaken at the US Army’s Yuma Proving Grounds in February 1996.

Anti-submarine ordnance comes in the shape of the Mk 46 lightweight torpedo and the Mk 11 depth charge. Jettison trials of the Mk 46 torpedo were successfully completed in New Zealand waters during April 2003 after Kaman’s own torpedo drop-test programme had revealed problems with the arming system. Locally improvised engineering modifications solved issues associated with the jettison operation and arming system.

A cabin-mounted machine gun has been qualified for service with the SH-2G(NZ) for operations in the Persian Gulf theatre. The M60D machine gun, mounted in the starboard door, is intended to support boarding party operations and also to lay down suppressive fire in support of insertion or extraction of troops on the ground. It also provides a useful capability for firing warning shots ‘across the bows’ of shipping.

A team of test pilots and technicians from the RAN’s Aircraft Maintenance and Flight Test Unit began FOCFT trials aboard HMNZS Te Mana in February 2002 (the RAN was contracted to establish ship-helicopter operating limits in the absence of an indigenous flight trials unit). It was during this period that aircraft NZ3604 suffered a heavy landing on deck, causing significant damage to its landing gear, which necessitated its return to Kaman for repair. A subsequent court of inquiry found that the heavy landing was the result of a unique and largely unforeseeable combination of ship motion and aircraft rate of descent at the moment of touchdown.

A second-stage FOCFT was undertaken aboard Te Kaha in August and September 2003. Other operational test and evaluation work undertaken during 2003 included the aforementioned torpedo trials, helicopter datalink trials and an IR signature evaluation.

In parallel with the test and trials programme, and continued aircrew and maintainer training, the Naval Support Flight has already undertaken over 15 embarkations in support of the RNZN’s Naval Combat Force. During 2003 flights were embarked aboard both Te Kaha and Te Mana for deployments to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation ‘Enduring Freedom’. An SH-2G(NZ) flight has also been embarked aboard HMNZS Canterbury, the RNZN’s last Leander-class frigate, which is primarily used as a training ship. During 2003 the ship and its embarked Super Seasprite undertook a series of exercises as well as Southern Ocean and Raoul Island resupply tasks.

Poland brings Super Seasprite into service

The Polish Navy has received four SH-2G Super Seasprite helicopters – redesignated SH-2G(P) – as Excess Defense Materiel from the US government for operation from its two ex-USN FFG-7-class frigates ORP General Kazimierz Pulaski and ORP General Tadeusz Kosciuszko, transferred in 2002 and 2003 respectively. These are the service’s first permanently embarked ships’ flights.

Recovered and reactivated following storage at the Aircraft Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, the aircraft were, in fact, the last four SH-2Gs delivered new to the USN, having been manufactured as recently as 1993.Congress was notified by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) in July 2000 of the proposed transfer to Poland of four SH-2G aircraft (plus training and support) worth some US$80 million. However, Poland’s Ministry of National Defence, unable to afford this proposal, subsequently entered negotiations with the DSCA to arrive at a mutually acceptable price. A contract was eventually signed in August 2002 (by which time the first two reactivated SH-2Gs were almost ready for handover). The cost to the Ministry of National Defence of introducing the SH-2G(P) to service is currently put at about US$20 million.

The first two reactivated helicopters, adorned in Polish national markings, touched down on the flight deck of the former USS Wadsworth, subsequently renamed General Tadeusz Kosciuszko, in September 2002 with Kaman pilots at the controls. Both aircraft were embarked for the ship’s delivery voyage to Poland and subsequently hangared while training progressed.

Training at Babie Doly airbase in Poland began in April 2003 (technical and maintenance documentation had arrived the previous May) and ran through to late September. In parallel, the first two front-line crews (four pilots and two tactical co-ordinators drawn from the Mil-14PL ‘Haze’ community) were detached to Kaman from late March to early July for conversion training aboard the two aircraft remaining in the USA. This second pair was delivered to Poland on 25 August 2003.

Training in shipborne operations followed in Poland between 28 August and 22 September 2003. This began with landings on the simulated flight deck at Babie Doly airbase, followed by recoveries to General Tadeusz Kosciuszko. Each crew conducted 100 landings, roughly half of which were at night.

A ceremony at Babie Doly on 24 September marked the completion of the Super Seasprite conversion course, with six aircrew and 29 maintainers graduating. Operational capability was declared in October 2003, and another milestone was achieved in March this year when the SH-2G(P) was for the first time embarked on board General Kazimierz Pulaski in the Baltic Sea to participate in a NATO exercise.

The Polish Navy plans to upgrade the SH-2G(P) through the installation of the standard LS-10 console developed by Centrum Techniki Morskiej (CTM), the Leba tactical data system and elements of CTM’s Kryl underwater warfare system. New communications will be integrated (Raytheon ARC-232 Starblazer UHF radios), as will be the Eurotorp MU90 Impact lightweight torpedo.

Super Seasprite in Egyptian service

The Arab Republic of Egypt was the first overseas customer for the SH-2G Super Seasprite, acquiring 10 SH-2G(E) variant aircraft (remanufactured from ex-USN SH-2F airframes) under the terms of a March 1995 Foreign Military Sales agreement worth over US$150 million including support. Aircraft are embarked aboard four FFG-7 frigates and two Knox-class ships transferred from the USN.

Egypt’s SH-2G(E) model is the first and, so far, only Seasprite variant to be equipped with an active dipping sonar in the shape of the L-3 Ocean Systems AQS-18A system. A Vista Controls digital hover coupler augments the aircraft’s auto-stabilisation system to allow the SH-2G(E) to fly an automated approach to a programmed altitude, hold a dipping hover based on sonar cable angle or Doppler inputs, and then fly an automatic departure from the hover.

The first SH-2G(E) was handed over on 21 October 1997, with the initial three aircraft being used at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, for flight training of Egyptian aircrew. In-country deliveries followed in 1998.

RELATED ARTICLES:
Provisional acceptance for RAN Seasprites: Jane’s Navy International, 1 November 2003.
SH-2G Super Seasprite damaged during RNZN trials: Jane’s Navy International, 1 May 2002.
Second frigate and Seasprite helicopters for Polish Navy: Jane’s Navy International, 1 December 2002.
Australia set to get first delayed Super Seasprites: Jane’s Defence Weekly, 29 October 2003.
Jane’s Fighting Ships (jfs.janes.com)

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