Innovative Rotorcraft Flight Control Systems Options to Enhance Shipboard Operations

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Information Systems
ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMA-275; V-22 Program
The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals, their country of origin, and what tasks each would accomplish in the statement of work in accordance with section 3.5.b.(7) of the solicitation.
OBJECTIVE: Develop innovative rotorcraft flight control system options that account for ship airwake and ship motion effects. Show how the innovative flight control system options affect rotorcraft handling qualities, performance, loads, and ground effects in the shipboard environment.
DESCRIPTION: The aviation capable ship mission includes providing a sustainable forward presence in both peacetime and in time of crisis. Aircraft provide the aviation capable ship power projection and it is important to use future analytic options to help enhance aircraft ship-based operations. Enhancement is needed in terms of allowing the aviation asset the widest latitude of ship and environmental conditions in which to launch and recover. This will allow the aviation asset to be employed a greater percentage of the time, and allow the ship commander the greatest flexibility in operating the ship. Future close-in at-sea scenarios will require a mixture of rotorcraft types, including tilt rotor aircraft operating from a variety of ship classes. The effects of ship airwake and ship motion are not considered in the rotorcraft flight control system design process. Rotorcraft flight control systems are usually designed for steady flight and specified maneuvers in a land-based environment. These land-based designs may not be adequate for the disturbances and resulting loads that can be encountered in shipboard operations. The design of flight control systems for land operations over shipboard operations can result in flight control systems that actually limit the aircraft ability to operate in the near proximity of ships. Flight control systems that provide decreased pilot workload in a land base operations, might provide increased pilot workload, or even uncontrolled flight conditions, in the shipboard environment when it attempts to provide corrections when control authority has already been exceeded due to a ships airwake for example.

introduced last 2006, hope this would work as this is a good idea and would help our industry