MRR: Project Description
Background
The HH-60Js, originally fielded over 17 years ago, are equipped with avionics hardware that is obsolete and becoming unsupportable due to a lack of production components and discontinued manufacturing sources. Equipment software support for current aircraft systems will no longer be economical to maintain or available by 2015. Over the years, the HH-60J’s avionics subsystems, auto-pilot, communications, navigation equipment, and flight instruments, have been plagued by a rapid increase in the equipment failure rate. Recognizing that this helicopter would remain the workhorse for Coast Guard aviation, initial funds were provided by the Deepwater Program to begin the avionics upgrade for the HH-60J. To ensure the HH-60J is capable of conducting missions well into the next decade, the Deepwater Program provided funding for an avionics upgrade that will result in the HH-60T.
Upgrades
Graphic illustration of what the new cockpit will look
like after conversion to the MH-60T.
Although the upgrade from the “J” to “T” model is designed as an aviation legacy sustainment project, the updated hardware and software technology will also provide additional capabilities. The aircraft will look very similar on the outside, but will be completely different aircraft on the inside. A new CAAS Cockpit will include five multi-functional display, or MFD screens, which allow both pilots to view a multitude of options. The Coast Guard Avionic Selection and Placement team preferred a full screen display of Radar, Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) and hoist camera images which led to a slight modification from the split-screen option used by the Army. The team simplified pilot transition from “J” to “T” through traditional display of primary flight instruments on the Pilot’s Flight Display (PFD). Situational awareness was increased in several aspects. The altitude gyroscope was spread across the display. The radar altimeter was enlarged and verbal low altitude alerting features were added to enhance safety during night hovering. The triple tachometer, which measures torque and rotor speed, was incorporated directly into the PFD.