Common vertical lift support programme (CVLSP)

The Common Vertical Lift Support Platform (CVLSP) core missions are to provide nuclear convoy weapon escort, 24/7 adverse weather capable Inter-Continental
Ballistic Missile (ICBM) emergency security response /operational support, and mass passenger transport/Operational Support Airlift (OSA) in the National Capital
Region. Other assigned missions include Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) OSA, survival school support, test and range support, and combat aviation advisor training.
Additionally, other support missions inherent in CVLSP capabilities include NASA and Homeland Security support missions of critical infrastructure protection,
search and rescue, national security special events, contingency management, and weapons of mass destruction interdiction.
Budget Justification: RDT&E funding includes, but is not limited to, support of the System Program Office (SPO) for development of System Requirement Document,
Information Support Plan (ISP), Acquisition Strategy Report, Request for Proposal (RFP), and the Test and Evaluation Master Plan (TEMP).
This is a new start request.

USAF starts search for UH-1N replacement
By Stephen Trimble

The US Air Force has announced that it wants to start replacing 62 Vietnam-era UH-1Ns with up to 93 new helicopters after 2015.

A "sources sought" notice issued on 17 December for the potentially multi-billion dollar common vertical lift support programme (CVLSP) reveals both the quantity and the USAF's desired attributes for the new helicopter fleet.

The USAF wants to replace its UH-1Ns with a helicopter that can lift 1,449kg (3,194lb), including four crew members, nine passengers and mission equipment, the notice says. It should also be able to fly up to 3h without refuelling at speeds up to 135ktas (251km/h).

Survivability is a key area that USAF wants to upgrade with the new helicopter. Industry sources were asked to describe how their aircraft could survive if struck by bullets as large as the 7.62mm, which is fired by the AK-47.


The CVLSP helicopter also should be armed, with the ability to suppress an "eight-man enemy element in the open out to 800m during daylight with 3sec of detection time", the notice says.

The USAF also makes it clear that the CVLSP contract is expected to be awarded to an off-the-shelf helicopter, meaning it must already be in service with either government or private owners.

The US military has had a chequered history with helicopter development programmes over the past decade.

The US Army has successfully fielded the unarmed EADS North America UH-72A Lakota as a light utility helicopter. But cost overruns and schedule delays forced the military to abort three programmes. Since 2004, the army terminated contracts for the RAH-66 Comanche and ARH-70 Arapaho. The US Navy also terminated a contract to redesign the EH101 as a presidential helicopter called the VH-71.

Meanwhile, the USAF was forced to cancel plans to buy a combat search and rescue (CSAR) helicopter after the original award was overturned and two follow-up attempts were declared invalid.

The CSAR and CVLSP programmes were originally part of the same contract, but the USAF separated them in 2005.

According to USAF budget justification documents released in February 2008, the CVLSP fleet is envisioned to provide escort for nuclear convoys, respond in any weather to emergencies across the far-flung launch silos for intercontinental ballistic missiles and transport passengers in the Washington DC area. The aircraft also could support NASA and homeland security missions.

The requirements in the acquisition notice call for an aircraft that is only marginally larger than the UH-1N. For example, the unarmed UH-72 could satisfy the lift, speed and endurance requirements, but lacks armoured protection and weapon systems. EADS has teamed up with Lockheed Martin to demonstrate an armed variant called the AS635. Both the UH-72 and AS635 are derived from the Eurocopter EC145 helicopter.

Other helicopters in the same class include the AgustaWestland AW129 multi-role combat helicopter and the Bell Helicopter 412EP.

USAF Seeks To Replace UH-1N Helicopter

The U.S. Air Force has started its effort to replace 62 Vietnam War-vintage UH-1N Huey helicopters with a commercially available helicopter by 2015, according to a Dec. 17 service document.


The Air Force expects to award a contract for the UH-N1 helicopters as soon as fiscal year 2012 and wants to have at least six aircraft by 2015, the target date for initial operational capability. (AIR FORCE)

The sources-sought notice seeks contractors who can provide the Air Force with up to 93 helicopters - dubbed the Common Vertical Lift Support Platform (CVLSP) - that can carry at least nine passengers and that have proved themselves in commercial or government service. The service wants to put the new helicopters into service quickly: "We will consider some performance trade offs to meet schedule at an affordable cost."
The Air Force expects to award a contract for the helicopters as soon as fiscal year 2012 and wants to have at least six aircraft by 2015, the target date for initial operational capability. Another 10 choppers are due no later than Sept. 30, 2017.
One way the service hopes to do this is by purchasing an aircraft that is currently in production, according to the document.
The service's UH-1N fleet dates to the 1970s and is used primarily at nuclear missile bases in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming, where they patrol missile fields, fly search-and-rescue missions, and more. The Air Force has another squadron of Hueys at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., that provide VIP airlift around Washington. The Sixth Special Operations Squadron also flies a handful of the aircraft for special operations missions at Hurlburt Field, Fla.
Those aircraft fly a cruising speed of roughly 100 knots and can carry up to 13 passengers depending on the situation.
While the missions flown by the current Huey fleet are relatively benign, the service is looking for a helicopter with a fairly high degree of survivability in combat situations, according to the notice.
The new choppers must be armored against 7.62mm small arms fire, feature electro-optical and infrared sensors, infrared countermeasures, be night-vision-goggle ready, and carry enough firepower to dispatch several enemy infantry squads during one mission, according to the notice.
The Air Force also wants the aircraft to be equipped with secure satellite communications as well as nonsecure line-of-sight communications links.
In addition to carrying nine passengers or 3,195 pounds of cargo, the CVLSP birds must be able to maintain a minimum of 135 knots airspeed while flying at 6,500 feet and be able to fly for at least three hours unrefueled at 6,500 feet.
The Army is replacing its antiquated Hueys with 345 EADS-built UH-72 Lakotas in a multiyear contract estimated to cost $3 billion. The Army uses the unarmed Lakota for stateside missions such as medical evacuations, drug hunting and personnel transport.