H-1 Upgrade Program: A Team Approach to System Safety

The H-1 Upgrades Program is an Acquisition Category 1D Program executing an Engineering and Manufacturing Development contract with Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. The Upgrades Program will take the existing UH-1N and AH-1W helicopter airframes and provide a common 4-bladed rotor and drive system, a new main transmission, 4-bladed tail rotor, and many changes designed to bring the two airframes into as identical a configuration as possible. The aircraft will also receive integrated cockpits as a part of the modification. The program recently passed its Preliminary Design Review. This paper will discuss some of the program rationale and background information and focus on the advantages of the IPT process in general, and specifically as it relates to system safety.