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Article: Rotary wings for Navies: developments in turbo-shaft engines, rotor technology and lightweight avionics and armament allowed the roles of shipborne helicopters to be expanded to include armed assault, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface vessel warfare, over-the-horizon targeting, mine laying/mine-countermeasures and airborne early warning.(Rotary-wing)
- Article from:
- Armada International
- Article date:
- April 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Armada International. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Not always well perceived is the fact that operation of helicopters and tilt-rotor aircraft from naval vessels requires special airframe and engine features (particularly in terms of corrosion protection), and role-specific avionics and armament. Current developments are reviewed below in order of region of manufacture and increasing aircraft size
Western Europe
The lightweight end of the naval helicopter range is represented by the 2.6-tonne Eurocoper AS 555 Fennec, powered by two 388-kW Turbomeca Arrius 1A engines. The marinised AS 555SN can be fitted with the Telephonics RDR-1400R search radar and armed with a 244-kg ...