[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Candidate Models for the Retriggered Training Helicopter Project

As some Apache helicopters of the US Forces Korea are withdrawn, the Army has decided to deploy 500MD light attack helicopters to the West Sea islands where a gap has emerged. However, since 2012, due to aging, the operational rate is expected to fall below 80%.

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The Basic Flight Training Helicopter (THX) project to replace military training helicopters is being pushed forward again. The military had planned in 2015 to import a total of about 40 helicopters from overseas, including around 30 for the Army and 10 for the Navy, with a budget of 170 billion KRW, but the bidding failed and the project was delayed for five years.

On the 9th, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced that from today until February 5 next year, it will conduct the third bidding announcement for the Basic Flight Training Helicopter project to introduce training helicopters for the Army and Navy. This project aims to replace the military's aging helicopters, whose service life has expired, with new training helicopters equipped with digital cockpits and tactical navigation equipment to train helicopter pilots.

DAPA issued the first bidding announcement in October 2015 and began selecting the training helicopter model. Among seven overseas helicopter manufacturers showing interest, the candidates were narrowed down to the American Bell Bell-505 and the Leonardo SW-4 helicopter, a joint venture between the UK and Italy. However, the project was canceled as Leonardo's bidding qualification was invalidated due to internal reasons such as mergers. Subsequently, the second bidding announcement was made in November 2018, selecting the American MDHI 530F and Enstrom 480B as candidate models. However, both models were judged 'unsuitable for combat' in the test evaluation.

If the military continues to operate the aging training helicopters, maintenance will be limited due to parts supply issues, and concerns about flight safety accidents have been raised, making the resumption of the project urgent. In fact, the Army currently operates models such as the 500MD and Surion, while the Navy has been using the UH-1H model for training since last year after all ALOE-III models were retired.

The 500MD is so outdated that it was scheduled to be completely phased out by 2022 under the Korean Attack Helicopter project. The 500MD helicopter was prepared in response to the withdrawal of US forces from Korea under the Nixon Doctrine in the early 1970s, and it is estimated that a total of 250 units were operated from 1976 to 1988. However, 79% of these 500MD helicopters are over 20 years old, and 1% are known to have reached the end of their operational life.

If the THX project restarts, many helicopter manufacturers are expected to challenge the bidding.

American MDHI is producing the upgraded 500E helicopter, which has over 90% parts compatibility with the 500MD, and operates programs necessary for performance improvement and life extension of the 500MD. MDHI emphasizes that upgrading the 500MD can reduce the budget by about 50-80% compared to the existing project, and since the 500E helicopter is being produced, parts can be supplied for the next 30 years.

The model proposed by Boeing is the H-6, commonly called 'Little Bird.' It is an upgraded version of the Army's 500MD, equipped with a turbine engine instead of a piston engine, and developed as a light utility helicopter. Bell's proposed model is the 206B. The Bell 206 was first developed in 1962 and has sold over 7,000 units to date. AgustaWestland's AW119 model is already in use by our police. It is developed as an 8-seat utility helicopter with a large interior space, enough to install three seats side by side. Eurocopter is expected to propose the EC120 model. This model, jointly developed with China and Singapore, is also used in France and Spain.

Manufacturers producing small helicopters have also entered the competition. Robinson is expected to propose the R66 model. The 5-seat R66 is an upgraded version of the previous R44 model, with 300 units produced as of 2012. There is also a notable model: the Enstrom 480B. The 480B model was designed for US Army training purposes. It is an upgraded version of the civilian 480 model from 2001. The biggest advantage of the 480B model is safety. Despite flying over 4 million hours to date, it has not had a single accident.

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