Summary
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MH-47#MH-47G
The MH-47G Special Operations Aviation (SOA) version is currently being delivered to the US Army. It is similar to the MH-47E, but features a more sophisticated avionics including a digital Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS). The CAAS is common glass cockpit used by different helicopters such as MH-60K/Ls, CH-53E/Ks, and ARH-70As. The MH-47G will also incorporate all of the new sections of the CH-47F.
Based on operational experience in Afghanistan, the CH-47 was found to be an effective substitute for the UH-60 Black Hawk as an assault helicopter. With its larger payload, range, and higher operating speed, one Chinook can replace up to five UH-60s in this role as an air assault transport.
The new modernization program will improve MH-47D and MH-47E Special Operations Chinooks to the MH-47G design specs. A total of 25 MH-47E and 11 MH-47D aircraft were upgraded by the end of 2003. In 2002 the army announced plans to expand the Special Operations Aviation Regiment. The expansion would add 12 additional MH-47G helicopters. On February 10, 2011, Leaders and employees from the H-47 program gathered for a ceremony at Boeing’s helicopter facility in Ridley Township, PA., to commemorate the delivery of the final MH-47G Chinook to U.S. Army Special Operations Command.
http://www.guncopter.com/mh-47g/
The MH-47G carries out overt/covert infiltration, exfiltration, air assault, resupply and sling-load operations ins support of special operations forces.
Improvements to the ageing ‘Echo’ model include a new cockpit, extended nose and a host of avionics upgrades. The updated avionics gear includes the US Army’s Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) - set of standardized LCD screens, communications devices and data processing units. The displays of a CAAS-equipped helicopter can combine data from all of the onboard sensors to suit the needs of the mission. CAAS can also integrate sensor data from external sources such as JSTAR airborne radars, weather radars and other sources, thus greatly enhancing their navigational ability and situational awareness. The MH-47G’s multi-mode radar provides terrain avoidance data to a moving map display in the cockpit. Mission-planning software and a set of automated-flight aids allows the crew to plan routes on-the-fly based on changing fuel, cargo and mission requirements.
The MH-47G’s airframe features a gun port on each side of the fuselage for pintle-mounted 7.62mm miniguns (ss shown above) . A third gun station, usually fitted with a M240D 7.62mm belt-fed machine gun. is situated at the rear ramp of the helicopter
The MH-47G features a FLIR pod under the chin and an advanced multi-mode radar linked to improved moving map displays on the cockpit’s multi-function displays.
The current fleet of MH-47D and MH-47Es within the 160th SOAR are in the process of being replaced by the new MH-47G. The first MH-47G was deployed to Afghanistan in March 2007.
Soaring in a Sim
Posted by Joris Janssen Lok at 8/21/2007 3:20 AM CDT
The U.S. Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment – Airborne has accepted and put into service a new and highly advanced combat mission simulator (CMS) for its recently delivered Boeing MH-47G Chinook helicopters, sim supplier CAE USA said yesterday.
The new training tool allows MH-47G pilots to rehearse complex missions such as counterterrorism actions, strategic intelligence strikes, tactical reconnaissance, infiltration, resupply, extraction, and interdiction operations in daylight as well as at night and in bad weather, CAE says.
The simulator was delivered to Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, home of the 160th SOAR(A) – also known as the Night Stalkers – in the spring, but only recently concluded on-site testing and acceptance.
The sim is part of the U.S. Army’s Special Operations Forces Aviation Training and Rehearsal Systems (ASTARS) program led by the Army’s Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation (PEO STRI).
According to its manufacturer, the MH-47G CMS features a number of industry firsts, including a collimated display system with the largest vertical field-of-view ever delivered on a full motion simulator. The Rockwell Collins-supplied common avionics architecture system (CAAS) used in the MH-47G cockpit is also fully simulated.
CAE also claims that the simulator features the first-ever implementation of the Common Environment/Common Database (CE/CDB), a new database architecture designed for the U.S. Special Operations Command that promises “significantly enhanced database capabilities to support rapid mission rehearsal timelines.”
The Tampa, Florida-based company (a subsidiary of Montreal, Canada-headquartered CAE) says that the design of the MH-47G simulator, in parallel with the development and implementation of the CE/CDB, was “one of the most demanding and technically challenging simulation programs our industry has seen in recent years.”
The MH-47G is the newest variant of the Boeing-built Chinook helicopter designed specifically for rapid movement of special operations forces and equipment during night, day, adverse weather, and limited visibility conditions.
“The MH-47G simulator now fielded by the U.S. Special Operations Command is also the baseline for the training system we are providing for the HH-47 Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR-X) program for the U.S. Air Force,” says Rick Lemaster, Boeing HH-47 Program Manager.
Specs
Crew: Pilot, Co-pilot + 3 crew chiefs/gunners
Engines: 2xTextron Lycoming T55-4-714 Turboshaft engines
Dimensions: L - 15.87m, W (rotor diameter) - 18.82m, H - 5.59m
Weights: 12,210 kg (empty), 24,494 kg (max loadout)
Max Speed: 259 kph
Range: 1382 km
Armament: 3 gun ports (port/starboard and rear): 2x m134 7.62mm miniguns, 1 xM240D 7.62mm machine gun
Avionics: Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS), Mission Management Software, Multi-mode radar, Hughes AN/AAQ-16 FLIR in chin turret, Digital moving map display, Aircraft Survivability Equipment Control, BM-AlliedSignal integrated avionics with four-screen NVG compatible EFIS, dual MIL-STD-1553 digital databusses, AN/ASN-145 AHRS; jamming-resistant radios, Rockwell Collins CP1516-ASQ automatic target hand-off system, inertial AN/ASN-137 Doppler, Rockwell Collins AN/ASN-149(V)2 GPS receiver, Rockwell Collins ADF-149, Perkin-Elmer AN/AVR-2 laser, E-Systems AN/APR-39A laser warning receiver, Honeywell AN/AAR-47 missile warning systems, ITT AN/ALQ-136(V) pulse jammer and Northrop Grumman AN/ALQ-162 CW jammer Tracor M-130 chaff/flare dispensers
Sources
http://www.chinook-helicopter.com/history/MH-47G_Model_History.html
http://www.guncopter.com/photos/mh-47g.php
http://www.guncopter.com/mh-47g
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MH-47
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MH-47#MH-47G
http://www.aircraftcovers.com/index.php?cPath=767_818_824&tplDir=fallback