3D-LZ Flight Test of 2013: Landing an EH-60L Helicopter in a Brownout Degraded Visual Environment

A flight test was conducted in 2013 to evaluate progress on three technologies that together were intended to enable safe low-level flight, landing, hover, and take-off in degraded visual environments with obstacles to avoid. The three classes of complementary technologies were: 1. A LAser Detection and Ranging (LADAR) sensor detected obstacles and terrain and created a three-dimensional database of geo-referenced samples. 2. Visual cueing was provided to the pilot of the LADAR data, aircraft state, and guidance to landing or hover. 3. A partial authority fight control augmentation system with Modernized Control Laws (MCLAWS) was engaged for some of the maneuvers to reduce pilot workload. This paper focuses on the visual cueing technologies (item 2 above). Fifty-five successful landings were accomplished in 2013 by seven evaluation pilots from across the services in brownout conditions at the dust range at Yuma Proving Ground. Performance data is compared to a previous test in 2009 in which 20 landings were accomplished with the same aircraft. Both dust landing tests were intermediate milestones for the Three Dimensional Landing Zone (3D-LZ) program on the path to a capstone Joint Capability Technology Demonstration planned for 2014.