ILA 2012 : Eurocopter Carrying Out Risk-Reduction Research on Future Transport Helicopter

Eurocopter has been carrying out risk-reduction studies on its Future Transport Helicopter (FTH) project currently being worked on in conjunction with Boeing.

Pre-design work on the rarely-discussed giant tandem rotor has been completed and the company is now awaiting the next set of staff requirements to emerge from NATO, which are expected at the end of the year.

'We are working to the NATO staff requirements of France and German but also the JMR-Heavy requirements from the US Army, but those are very similar to those demanded by NATO,' said Hans Weber, VP of the Heavy Transport Helicopter Program at Eurocopter, speaking to Shephard at the ILA Airshow in Berlin.

On its stand, the company is displaying a small fuselage cross section of the aircraft to demonstrate its potential size, should the aircraft ever come to fruition.

The cross section, built by engineers at Eurocopter Deutschland facilities at Donauworth and Ottobrunn, is roughly a metre in length but is wide enough to accommodate a wheeled armoured personnel carrier or an ISO container.

The development work into the fuselage section was funded by the German Federal Office of Defense Technology and Procurement (BWB). Diagrams shown to Shephard at ILA would give the FTH a larger cabin than the Sikorsky CH-53K and the Alenia C-27J.

The section displayed at the show without floor and seats weighs in at just 60kg. Weber believes that it would be possible for the FTH to deliver a payload of 18,000 kg on an aircraft with an maximum take-off weight of 33,000 kg. In comparison, the Russian Mi-26 can lift a payload of around 20,000 kg but its maximum take-off weight is close to 54,000 kg.

The ability to carry ISO containers is considered to be an useful capability.

'We can certify the aircraft to be able to carry these containers but if we can fit different containers with VIP seating, or a command post, we are able to deliver a multi-mission capability to customer with out the cost of certifying it,' added Weber.

Further development cost reductions would come from giving the aircraft a civil certification which military customers could then build up on when it comes to putting the aircraft into service. Civil certification may also make the aircraft attractive to possible civil customers as well.

'This project is important because it will deliver a new generation of heavy transport helicopters. 
'We are now seeing fifth generation fighters now, but types like the Chinook are still from that first generation,' added Weber.