The British Royal Navy (RN) has completed testing the new wings for the helicopter Leonardo AW159 Wildcat. With evaluations completed, the Wildcat can now carry up to 20 Martlet air-to-ground missiles or four Sea Venom missiles.
The tests lasted a month and ended in October. The naval variant of the Wildcat helicopter successfully proved the weapon wing concept during recent sea trials.
“Successful Ship Helicopter Operational Limitations (SHOL) tests have proven that the Wildcat HMA2 can operate fully loaded with its newest missile systems in a variety of challenging conditions at sea”, said Defense Equipment & (DE&S).
“Operating from the RFA vessel Argus in the Atlantic and Mediterranean for a month, a specially instrumented Wildcat HMA flew in 19 days for a total of 87 hours and performed 894 takeoffs and landings from deck, day and night.”
Seven weapon configurations were successfully tested, including missiles under both gun wings and one at a time, while various ways of approaching and departing the ship were tested under challenging conditions to see how the Wildcat would cope.
According to RN,Both missiles come under the Anti-Surface Guided Weapon of the Future project. O Martlet, manufactured by Thales, is a lightweight missile weighing just 13kg, intended for smaller/lightly shielded targets. The MBDA Sea Venom has ten times the power of the Martlet, being used to attack larger and more heavily armored warships.
The installation of so-called “weapon wings” affects the way the helicopter behaves. To determine the limits for safe flight – known as Ship Helicopter Operating Limits – a specially modified Wildcat, packed with sensors, teamed up with the RFA aviation training vessel Argus for a month.
A myriad of conditions affect a helicopter's performance: wind speed, direction and airflow over the deck, humidity, temperature, sea state, deck pitch and roll, as well as the weight and configuration of the aircraft itself.
Some 30 people – crew, scientists, meteorologists, test pilots, engineers and technicians from across the Navy, Ministry of Defense, science and industry – were involved in the tests, which saw the Wildcat of the 815 Naval Air Squadron land and take off more than 900 times in different conditions/with different loads, day and night.
Once analyzed, the data will guide crew – from those fresh from training to the most experienced Fleet Air Arm aviators – in operating a Wildcat armed with Martlet/Sea Venom missiles on frigates, destroyers, auxiliary ships and aircraft carriers of the Queen Elizabeth class.
