• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

DOT&E FY2000 Annual Report

KIOWA WARRIOR

Army ACAT II Program		Prime Contractor
Total Number of Systems:	385	Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. (airframe)
Total Program Cost (TY$):	$3.26B	Boeing Electronics Systems (MMS)
Average Unit Cost (TY$):	$8.1M	Honeywell, Inc. (CDS and software)
Full-rate production: KIOWA: KIOWA WARRIOR:	1QFY86 3QFY89	Rolls Royce-Allison (engine)

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION & CONTRIBUTION TO JOINT VISION 2020

The OH-58D KIOWA WARRIOR is a two-place single engine armed reconnaissance helicopter. The KIOWA WARRIOR is an armed version of the earlier OH-58D KIOWA Advanced Helicopter Improvement Program aircraft, which itself was a highly modified version of the OH-58A KIOWA. The principal difference between the KIOWA WARRIOR and its immediate OH-58D predecessor is a universal weapons pylon on both sides of the aircraft, capable of accepting combinations of the semi-active laser Hellfire missile, the Air-to-Air Stinger missile, 2.75" Folding Fin Aerial Rocket pods, and a 0.50 caliber machine gun. In addition to these weapons, the KIOWA WARRIOR upgrade includes changes designed to provide improvements in air-to-air and air-to-ground communications, mission planning and management, available power, survivability, night flying, and reductions in crew workload through the use of on-board automation and cockpit integration.

The primary mission of the KIOWA WARRIOR is armed reconnaissance in air cavalry troops and light attack companies. In addition, the KIOWA WARRIOR may be called upon to participate in Joint Air Attack operations, air combat, limited attack operations, or artillery target designation.

The KIOWA WARRIOR leverages information superiority and precision engagement capabilities to enhance the Army's dominant maneuver in battle.

The KIOWA WARRIOR is a Category II acquisition program. The Army has acquired 411 KIOWA WARRIORs through either modification or retrofit of existing OH-58 KIOWAs. The KIOWA WARRIOR replaces AH-1 attack helicopters currently found in air cavalry troops and light attack companies and OH-58 A/C KIOWAs in air cavalry troops.

The basis for the latest KIOWA WARRIOR OA (1994) was the Dual Station Unit Fielding and Training Program (DSUFTP) conducted by the Combat Aviation Training Brigade (CATB) at Ft. Hood in 1993. The planning and execution of the KIOWA WARRIOR DSUFTP, which consisted of both live fire and non-live fire force-on-force exercises, was coordinated between the CATB, the U.S. Army OPTEC, and DOT&E to ensure that the program provided the opportunities needed to support an adequate OPEVAL. This was an innovative use of combined testing and training carefully coordinated to accomplish both testing and training objectives.

Using data from the DSUFTP, DOT&E concluded that the addition of the weapons, improved cockpit integration, and better navigational capability resulted in an aircraft that is much more effective than previous OH-58 models. Furthermore, the potential enhancements to mission planning and management provided by the aviation mission planning system and data transfer system were very apparent during DSUFTP. Moreover, these improvements were achieved without any noticeable impact on readiness as measured by the aircraft's demonstrated operational availability. However, several areas of concern were observed. Among the most critical were the impact of weight growth on the aircraft's power margin, endurance and auto-rotation performance, and the impact of several important Interim Statements of Aircraft Qualification restrictions on the operational utility of the KIOWA WARRIOR.

To address these and other concerns, a Safety Enhancement Program for the OH-58D KIOWA WARRIOR was initiated to incorporate an improved engine with full authority digital electronic control, crashworthy crew seats, air bags, improved master controller processor, and data modem. The Safety Enhancement Program is expected to improve engine reliability and crew crash protection, reduce pilot workload during emergency maneuvers, and provide additional digitization capabilities. However, it should be noted that the Safety Enhancement Program does not solve the safe auto-rotation problem. As currently planned, the Safety Enhancement Program will involve the modification of 301 aircraft, which began in FY98.

DOT&E approved the KIOWA WARRIOR LFT&E strategy in July 1996. An updated LFT&E strategy, approved in January 1999, identified the resources (hardware, tests, and schedule) necessary to carry out the program. The approved LFT&E strategy outlines a two-phase ballistic program to investigate the vulnerability of the main rotor blade, Mast Mount Sight (MMS) support and ball, and the Lazy Susan bearing supporting the MMS. The two phases are intended to address ballistic damage tolerance under static (loaded and unloaded components) and dynamic (fully rotating rotor system) conditions. The KIOWA WARRIOR Live Fire Testing began in FY99.

At the direction of the T&E IPT, the KIOWA WARRIOR Program has revised the TEMP to describe test plans on future and ongoing product improvements. OSD approval of an updated TEMP is anticipated in 1QFY01.

DOT&E monitored the progress of Safety Enhancement Program testing. Installation of Federal Aviation Administration-certified crashworthy seats-similar to those used in TH-67 training aircraft-began in FY00. Cockpit airbags were tested in UH-60s in FY99 and in KIOWA WARRIORs in June 2000. Emerging results are favorable. Installation of airbags will begin once the Army has approved a requested material release.

The Army is developing limited digital capability for the OH-58D to participate in Phase I of the Army's Division Capstone Exercise (DCX) scheduled to be conducted at the National Training Center from March-April 2001. The Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) Limited Users Test 3 will be conducted concurrently. The test plan for the control and display system software and hardware (CDS4) to support digital communications for KIOWA WARRIOR during DCX stipulates a comprehensive battery of developmental flight testing to support air worthiness evaluation and safety release. CDS4 functionality, Improved Data Modem functionality, Joint Variable Message Formats send/receive capability, and interoperability with the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data system and Aviation Mission Planning System are planned for test. Testing is currently in progress at Yuma Proving Ground and at Ft. Hood.

KIOWA WARRIOR Live Fire Testing began in FY99 with the execution of ten ballistic firings against sections of the main rotor blade. No funds were allocated in FY00 for the LFT&E program, so no tests were conducted this past year. The Army has the funds and the necessary authority to continue execution of the Live Fire Tests in FY01, and is currently working with DOT&E to develop a revised schedule of the remaining tests. Component-level testing of the main rotor blade and mast mounted sight will resume this year and may continue into FY02. The final series of Live Fire tests will be conducted against an operating KIOWA WARRIOR helicopter in FY02-03. Preparation of the helicopter for these tests is now scheduled to begin in FY02.

The OH-58D program is beyond the production and fielding phases. The last OH-58D production aircraft was delivered in October 1999. The Army is pursuing several sustainment initiatives to include the Safety Enhancement Program, digitization, weight reduction, new HF radio, new engine barrier filter, and cockpit airbags. The level of ongoing and projected T&E of system enhancements is adequately documented in the updated TEMP. There are three critical areas that need attention before the KIOWA WARRIOR can be considered as having been adequately tested: (1) the impact of weight growth on the aircraft's ability to safely land in an emergency situation requiring an auto-rotation; (2) survivability (LFT&E Program); and (3) software upgrades.

The Safety Enhancement Program has improved engine reliability and crew crash protection, reduced pilot workload during emergency maneuvers, and provided additional digitization capabilities. The improved engines are generally performing well. Airbags have been tested and will be installed once they are certified. However, it should be noted that the Safety Enhancement Program does not solve the safe auto-rotation problem. As a result of continued gross weight issues (weight growth), coupled with limited rotor inertia, there remains insufficient kinetic energy in the rotor system to "cushion" the aircraft safely during emergencies requiring an auto-rotation. Consequently, the aircraft continues to operate on the margins of safety if the crew is presented with a situation requiring an emergency auto-rotative landing. For this reason, the Army maintains 5,200 pound gross weight limitation for aircraft operations. Under these conditions, KIOWA WARRIOR would be unsuitable for production.

Although a sufficient Live Fire test program has been identified, and testing was initiated in FY99, the program stalled in FY00 for lack of Army funding. Funding has been resumed in FY01, and the next LFT&E test firing is scheduled for December 19, 2000. The LFT&E program is projected to be complete in FY03.

The mixed performance of the other modifications continues to be addressed. Deficiencies with the improved mast mounted sight processor have largely been fixed and test results show that the sight meets its requirements. Problems that were noted in exchanging messages with the Army's Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System are being corrected in the context of the Army's ongoing battlefield digitization development and experimentation. Some of these corrective actions include: (1) refinements to training; and (2) tactics, techniques, and procedures. Other corrective actions involve software modifications to the aircraft's improved data modem.

FY00 KIOWA WARRIOR