“Whirlybirds” Drive Mil-Aero Connector Opportunities Skyward
By Scott Clay, Bishop & Associates Inc.

Things look bright for connector opportunities in the military helicopter arena. The Annual Army Aviation Association of America confirmed the AUSA predictions concerning the growth of Army rotorcraft in the next five to seven years. Projections by the Teal Group were backed up by the AAAA sessions that projected dollar value on military helicopter programs at:

While growth is expected also in the civil helicopter market, the much larger share is with the military sector, especially in the U.S. Europe and Asia’s share will grow slowly, with nowhere near the dollar amount invested by the American military. This growing number is being driven off course by the high use of rotorcraft in Iraq and Afghanistan. This wartime use is three to five times higher than the average use of these helicopters during peacetime. Sikorsky will continue to be the market leader and should maintain that envied position with its UH-60 series of utility helicopters. They have over 1,200 orders for the U.S. Army, and more than 250 for the Navy, plus further orders from overseas.

Sikorsky’s entire build process has evolved under Jeff Pino, a veteran Army aviator and president of this operating group since 2006. He has revised Sikorsky from an old-fashioned New England manufacturing company to a smooth-running company with a better co-operating labor/management team approach, and a more modern quality-driven process system. Sales and profits are rising, but even more importantly, Sikorsky is once again the leader in helicopter production, and even setting new goals for new technology and development, such as a new concept for the Joint Heavy Lift platform, a new higher carrying capacity helo capable of lifting even medium-weight vehicles, such as the Stryker and M2A2 APC. For connector makers, Sikorsky should be a major target account. Remember, the typical helicopter has in excess of 700 connectors—many in mated pairs—and they use all types, from the 60-year-old 5015 series circulars to the very latest VME, fiber optic, micro, and nano styles of circulars. They are always looking for better performance, lower weight and space systems, and enhanced capabilities in wire harnesses, and most of all reliability and ease of service and maintenance.

The Marines and Navy are also pushing for over 200 of the Sikorsky CH-53K, an entirely new version of that reliable helicopter that has been in service for over 40 years. This platform weighs in at over 84,000 pounds, and will perform various missions for the Navy and Marines as their heavyweight rotorcraft carrier for the next 20 years.

The Marines are also growing their other helicopter platforms, as Bell will produce a new UH-1 “Huey,” the UH-1Y, and the order is for 123 of them. Bell will also produce 226 new AH-1Z “Cobra” gunships for the Marines. Remember, the Marines are the prime recipient of the V-22 Osprey, the tilt-rotor lifter used by the Marines and the Air Force, and total production is scheduled to exceed 300. This combination helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft is already in service, and has even had several short tours in Iraq.

The vast majority of the UH-60 production is for the U.S. Army, but this force is also the recipient of several other platforms. Boeing makes their AH-64D attack and close support helicopter, and not only has many new ones on order, but also is in the process of upgrading the older “A” versions of the helicopter to the newest “D” level. With this upgrade, the helicopter is stripped down to a mere shell of its former self, and completely rebuilt. And there is a new upgrade to its electronics and systems called “Block III.” A plan is being formulated for yet another upgrade for the Apache that will involve far more than just the ability to control and communicate with UAVs in its airspace. Plans for totally new avionics, controls, engines, transmissions, and weapons upgrades are being developed.

Other helicopter makers, such as Bell and Eurocopter, are busy with various military programs, and their assembly lines are scheduled for the next five years, or more. Eurocopter is building the UH-72 utility helicopter for the Army National Guard in a new plant in Columbus, Mississippi. Bell continues to build various platforms for the Marines and Navy at their plants in Texas, and will again bid on the new Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) program that the Army needs to replace the venerable OH-58, which was designed over 50 years ago, and needs huge amounts of hours in maintenance to continue flying. With these production schedules, the various cable and harness makers that supply the platforms will be buying and building many of the various types of standard circular connectors in large quantities. Also, the various avionics systems, displays, radars, computers, and other “boxes” supplied by key companies, such as Honeywell, L-3, GE Aviation, DRS, Raytheon, and many others, contain not only the various circular systems to link up with the wiring harnesses, but within the boxes are many other connector types. Systems like VME, USB, RS-232, SMA, BNC, coaxial, PCI, IDC connectors and small harnesses, fiber systems, LAN, and many others go into these avionics boxes, and with upgrades and improvements, more of these connectors are being used with each new application.

Total connectors required by a typical helicopter now easily exceed 1,000 per aircraft. Looking at the totals for production, and the large numbers of rotorcraft being upgraded and rebuilt, connector use in this sector will grow, and key component companies should include this sector in their focus plans for the future.
 

Scott Clay
Director Military & Aerospace, Bishop & Associates Inc.
Scott Clay has worked for more than 25 years in the connector and wiring systems markets. He has held various positions in field applications and marketing for Molex, Tyco, Methode, and ITT. For the past 15 years, Clay has focused on the military/aerospace sector, and five years ago formed his own company for consulting and application engineering. He has worked on design-in and electronics on F/A-18E/F, F-22, F-35, C-130J, C-5M, C-27, P-8, A-10, and numerous other aircraft. Some of the Navy programs Clay has participated in are SSN-774 Virginia class subs, CVX, DDG-1000, and the Littoral Combat Ship class. He has extensive expertise in land vehicle systems, and has worked closely with the worldwide locations of GD, BAE, AM General, and other key manufacturers. He is currently working on variations of MRAP, JLTV, upgrades for the Bradley fighting vehicle, M-88 recovery vehicle, FMTV, and other platforms in the wiring and systems areas, plus portions of the future combat systems.