BENEFITS OF ADVANCED CONTROL TECHNOLOGY

GKN Westland Helicopters Limited (GKNWHL) and Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) have jointly undertaken a programme of work to quantify the benefits of Advanced Control Technology (ACT). A major part of this programme was to perform an assessment of the mission effectiveness of ACT compared with existing control strategies. This was performed on the simulation facilities at DERA (Bedford) using a GKN WHL developed Lynx model. Three basic configurations were used: • A standard service Lynx; • A standard Lynx with enhancements to the autopilot modes and the introduction of carefree handling in the heave axis; • A Lynx with manoeuvre command ACT and cyclic sidestick control. The assessment of mission effectiveness was performed for two expanded mission scenarios as opposed to the discrete mission task element method used currently for evaluating handling qualities. The two mission scenarios were: • A battlefield scout/attack airborne fire control mission • Recovery to a small ship following a maritime mission The missions were flown in both good and degraded visual conditions and demanded a high level of agility, precision manoeuvring and pilot workload. The trial demonstrated clear mission benefits resulting from the improved handling of both the additional features to the standard AFCS and the introduction of full ACT. The results from the trial were used in a full benefits analysis, which assessed the contribution of ACT to the top-level military attributes of sustainability, productivity, capability and survivability. The analysis concluded that ACT made a significant contribution in a number of key areas.