APPLICATIONS OF OPERATIONAL ANALYSIS TO THE PRELIMINARY DESIGN PROCESS

Operational analysis can be an effective tool in the overall development process of a new helicopter by providing a link between the engineering design process and the military employment of the aircraft. By analyzing the capability of the aircraft in the appropriate scenarios, operational analysis can be used to define and understand requirements, support design tradeoffs, and ensure that design decisions maximize the military worth of the aircraft. The key requirements for such analyses are that they focus on the appropriate operational issues and that they provide results in a format that can be translated into basic aircraft design parameters. This ensures that the information can be readily understood and used by the design team.