The Boeing AH-6 is a series of light helicopter gunships based on the MH-6 Little Bird and MD 500 family. Developed by Boeing Rotorcraft Systems, these include the Unmanned Little Bird (ULB) demonstrator, the A/MH-6X Mission Enhanced Little Bird (MELB), and the proposed AH-6I and AH-6S.

Design and development

The Unmanned Little Bird demonstrator, which Boeing built from a civilian MD 530F, first flew on September 8, 2004, and made its first autonomous flight (with safety pilot) on October 16, 2004."Boeing Unveils Low-Cost, Versatile 'Little Bird' That Can Fly Manned or as UAV"
Boeing, October 25, 2004. Retrieved: February 21, 2015. In April 2006, Boeing used the ULB to demonstrate the ability of another helicopter, in this case an AH-64 Apache to remotely control the ULB's weapons payload as a part of Boeing's Airborne Manned/Unmanned System Technology Demonstration (AMUST-D) program. For the initial test, the Apache Longbow was on the ground, while the ULB was airborne several miles away and

Hellfire missiles The AGM-114 Hellfire is an air-to-ground missile (AGM) first developed for anti-armor use, later developed for precision drone strikes against other target types, especially high-value targets. It was originally developed under the name ''Heli ...

were fired from the ULB by a tester sitting at the co-pilot's station in the Apache. Both aircraft are equipped with tactical common data link equipment and technologies manufactured by L-3 Communications."Boeing Apache and Unmanned Little Bird Demonstrator Test Expands UAV Control"
Boeing, April 12, 2006. Retrieved: February 21, 2015. The ULB Demonstrator first flew in the unmanned mode on June 30, 2006 from the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

's Yuma Proving Ground, flying a pre-programmed 20-minute armed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission around the facility. All previous flights during the 450 flight hour engineering development phase had a safety pilot on board, although the aircraft was typically flown remotely from the ground."Boeing Unmanned Little Bird Demonstrator Helicopter Flies Unmanned for First Time"
Boeing, July 12, 2006. Retrieved: February 21, 2015.Kress, Adam

''Phoenix Business Journal'', January 28, 2005. Accessed August 27, 2008. With the successes of the ULB, Boeing incorporated its technologies into an A/MH-6, designating it the A/MH-6X. On September 20, 2006, the first A/MH-6X lifted off on its maiden flight from Boeing Rotorcraft Systems' Mesa, Arizona facility with a pilot on board. While the ULB Demonstrator had a payload of 2,400 pounds, the MELB has an additional 1,000 pounds of payload capacity. The A/MH-6X is similar to the A/MH-6M, but includes a prototype

glass cockpit A glass cockpit is an aircraft cockpit that features electronic (digital) flight instrument displays, typically large LCD screens, rather than the traditional style of analog dials and gauges. While a traditional cockpit relies on numerous ...

and a number of upgrades to the electronics and avionics."Boeing Manned/Unmanned Light Helicopter Makes First Flight"
Boeing, October 9, 2006. Retrieved: February 21, 2015. The A/MH-6X is an optionally manned or unmanned aircraft which is a hybrid of the ULB demonstrator and the A/MH-6M mission-enhanced Little Bird which is used by US Army Special Operations Command."Army Technology-Unmanned Little Bird project"
army-technology.com Boeing funded the development program itself; it intends to market the aircraft for both military and homeland security roles within the U.S. and internationally. The aircraft is estimated to cost US$2 million. The systems related to the unmanned flight capabilities have also been designed to be able to be installed in any other helicopter as well, including the Apache. An Unmanned Little Bird performed a fully autonomous flight in June 2010, including avoiding obstacles using LIDAR.Spice, Byron
Researchers Help Develop Full-Size Autonomous Helicopter
''Carnegie Mellon'', 6 July 2010. Retrieved: 19 July 2010.Koski, Olivia
"In a First, Full-Sized Robo-Copter Flies With No Human Help"
''Wired'', 14 July 2010. Retrieved: 19 July 2010. In 2009, it was reported that Boeing was working on the "AH-6S Phoenix" for the US Army's restarted ARH program, named Armed Aerial Scout. The AH-6S design is stretched by to allow room for other ARH crew shot down in combat to be recovered. The aircraft also would feature an extended aerodynamic nose to house avionics hardware. AH-6S cockpit and main rotor composite blades are to be based the AH-64D Block III. The AH-6S will have an improved tail rotor and a more powerful Rolls-Royce 250-CE30 engine."Boeing's new Phoenix rises from ARH ashes"
''Flight International'', 7 January 2009. The Little Bird has an endurance of 12 hours and carries a maximum mission payload of . The AH-6i is the export version of the AH-6S. The AH-6i first flew on September 16, 2009. Jordan has expressed interest in ordering the AH-6i in May 2010. In October 2010 Saudi Arabia requested 36 AH-6i aircraft with related equipment and weapons from the United States through a Foreign Military Sale."Saudi Arabia – AH-64D APACHE, UH-60M BLACKHAWK, AH-6i Light Attack, and MD-530F Light Turbine Helicopters"
US Defense Security Cooperation Agency, 20 October 2010. Kaman Corporation is developing a retrofittable

graphite Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on la ...

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rotorblade for the AH-6. In summer 2011, an H-6U performed autonomous landings on a moving truck bed for

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

companies

Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; grc-gre, Θαλῆς; ) was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. He was one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regarded ...

and DCNS for France's

General Directorate for Armament A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED On ...

, in preparation for

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s on a French

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed an ...

in 2012.Thisdell, Dan
Thales, DCNS ready sea borne trials of unmanned rotorcraft
''

Flight Global FlightGlobal is an online news and information website which covers the aviation and aerospace industries. The website was established in February 2006 as the website of ''Flight International ''Flight International'' is a monthly magazi ...

/ElectronicsWeekly'', 15 November 2011. Accessed: 25 November 2011.Thales completes successful flight demonstration for full automatic landing and deck landing of one-ton class rotary wing UAVs
''

'', 14 June 2011. Accessed: 25 November 2011. Little Bird Loading Demonstration 160404-M-CJ052-016

In October 2012, the AH-6i completed a flight demonstration for the U.S. Army in anticipation of the Armed Aerial Scout program. While the AH-6i is aimed at international customers, Boeing intends to offer it for the program."Boeing demonstrates AH-6i for US Army"
Flightglobal.com, 23 October 2012. The Army ended the AAS program in late 2013. In December 2012, Boeing demonstrated the Unmanned Little Bird version of the AH-6 to the South Korean Army. The aircraft flew autonomously for 25 minutes to demonstrate the unmanned system's capabilities that can be integrated into Army MD 500 Defender helicopters. In September 2013,

Aurora Flight Sciences Aurora Flight Sciences is an American aviation and aeronautics research subsidiary of Boeing which primarily specializes in the design and construction of special-purpose Unmanned aerial vehicles. Aurora has been established for 20+ years and th ...

and Boeing offered the H-6U Little Bird for the

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through co ...

unmanned lift intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance capability competition. Boeing, working as a subcontractor, was flying the Little Bird without human input, but with a pilot on board to comply with

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

regulations during testing near

Manassas, Virginia Manassas (), formerly Manassas Junction, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. The population was 42,772 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Prince William County, although the two are separate jurisdi ...

. The H-6U is competing against the unmanned

Kaman K-MAX The Kaman K-MAX (company designation K-1200) is an American helicopter with intermeshing rotors (synchropter) by Kaman Aircraft. It is optimized for external cargo load operations, and is able to lift a payload of over , which is more than the ...

, which has a usable external payload of and has been used in theater to resupply Marines. Evaluations were to begin in February 2014 at Marine Corps Base Quantico. Marines at Quantico announced they had successfully landed an unmanned Little Bird, as well as a K-MAX, autonomously using a mini-

tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being com ...

in April 2014. The helicopters were equipped with technology called the Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System (AACUS), which combines advanced algorithms with LIDAR and electro-optical/infrared sensors to enable a person holding a tablet to select a point to land the helicopter at an unprepared landing site. Autonomous landing without the need for remote control or tele-operation reduces operator burden and allows them be resupplied or conduct other missions like medical evacuation around the clock. The AACUS weighs , so it can be easily integrated onto other aircraft like the

CH-53E Super Stallion The Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion is a heavy-lift helicopter operated by the United States military. As the Sikorsky S-80, it was developed from the CH-53 Sea Stallion, mainly by adding a third engine, adding a seventh blade to the main rotor, ...

and V-22 Osprey. According to Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, Chief of Naval Research, operational use of the system could be possible by 2015–2016. The Office of Naval Research selected Aurora Flight Sciences and the Unmanned Little Bird to complete development of the prototype AACUS system over Lockheed and the K-MAX.

Variants

;Unmanned Little Bird (ULB): UAV demonstrator ;A/MH-6X Mission Enhanced Little Bird (MELB): ;AH-6I: Version of the AH-6S for export. ;AH-6S Phoenix: Proposed version of the AH-6 for the US Army's Armed Aerial Scout program.

Operators

; *

Royal Jordanian Air Force The Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; ar, سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī) is the aerial warfare branch of the Jordanian Armed Forces. History Early days Jordan gained independence in 1 ...

; *

Saudi Arabian National Guard The Saudi Arabian National Guard or SANG ( ar, الحَرَس الوَطنيّ, al-Ḥaras al-Waṭanī), also known as the "White Army", is one of the three major branches of the military forces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The national gu ...

(12, 24 on order) ; * Royal Thai Army (8 on order, contract worth US$103.8 million)

Specifications (ULB/MD530F)

References

External links