Application of Helicopter Air-to-Air Combat Test (AACT) Data to Current LHX Concerns

With the Army’s need for LHX drawing closer, several questions still remain as to how to quantify maneuverability and agility to insure a design which can perform the multiple missions required of this next generation rotorcraft. Several tools exist within the community, one of the latest being an extensive air-to-air flight data base from the U.S. Army Helicopter Air- to-Air Combat Test Program (AACT) (Reference 2). Using this data, the authors explore pertinent combat issues and validate other previously used modeling techniques. The use of the AACT data in current pre-LHX contracts is explored and design issues, which the data indicate should be the focus of future attention, are pinpointed and discussed. Research, which was performed as a result of questions raised during these flight tests, is also described.