Boeing attack and reconnaissance helicopter makes first flight

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The Boeing Co.'s AH-6i light attack and reconnaissance helicopter has taken to the skies in a maiden flight accomplished seven months after the aircraft maker started work on the prototype, Boeing announced Wednesday.

The company said the AH-6i completed its first flight on Sept. 16 at the Boeing Rotorcraft Systems facility in Mesa, Ariz. During the 36 minutes it was airborne the helicopter demonstrated its flight characteristics and several handling maneuvers, Boeing said.

Industry analysts said the significance of the successful test flight lay in the fact that the helicopter would be almost exclusively marketed to overseas customers, while the U.S. Army would be using a different model.

The AH-6 series includes other earlier models of light helicopters developed by Boeing Rotorcraft Systems and based on the MH-6 Little Bird and MD 500 family.

Boeing said the chopper had undergone several enhancements before the test flight and after subsequent flights over the Arizona desert.

Boeing's Apache Programs vice president Al Winn, who spoke at the Association of the United States Army annual meeting and exposition, said the chopper's various functions and capabilities had been tested in flights over the desert.

Boeing has already received enquiries from foreign customers for its latest offering, though no firm orders have been announced. Light helicopters that combine attack and reconnaissance capabilities have a wide appeal and also offer fuel economies, analysts said. Earlier models have also proven useful in warfare involving unmanned attack aircraft

"The AH-6i is based on a combat-proven airframe that special operations forces have deployed with great success," said Winn. "The successful first flight and our ongoing flight test program give us great confidence in the capabilities of this new international variant and its ability to meet the light-attack and reconnaissance requirements of our international customers."

He indicated the new helicopter's success owed much to the Boeing open systems architecture which allows a rapid integration of the avionics suite and cockpit. That architecture was originally developed for the AH-64D Apache Block III.

Since the AH-6i program was unveiled last year, Boeing has been drawing international attention to the aircraft's flexible mission configuration, an integrated digital cockpit, combat-proven design and the highest payload in its class.

The helicopter will be carrying an advanced integrated weapons system and a communications package that enables connectivity with other aircraft and ground stations. Production is scheduled to be based at Mesa but components may come from other facilities.

Other helicopters in the AH-6 series include the Unmanned Little Bird demonstrator and the A/MH-6X Mission Enhanced Little Bird.

The ULB demonstrator, begun from a civilian MD 530F, first flew in 2004 and made its first autonomous flight with a safety pilot in October that year.

By 2006, Boeing was using the ULB to demonstrate the ability of another helicopter, an AH-64 Apache, to remotely control the ULB's weapons payload. The exercise was a part of Boeing's Airborne Manned/Unmanned System Technology Demonstration program.

It is not clear yet if the new chopper will be used soon in similar tests.