KAI Light Civil Helicopter (LCH)/Light Armed Helicopter (LAH)

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"KAI Picked To Build S. Korean Light Armed Helo"
Jul. 22, 2014 - 06:12PM |
By JUNG SUNG-KI

Source:
http://www.defensenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2014307220038

SEOUL — Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has been tapped to develop a 10,000-pound helicopter to be used for civil and military purposes, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).

The agency held a top executive council Tuesday to select KAI as preferred bidder for the project. KAI beat Korean Air, the national flag-carrier involved in licensed production of military helicopter and aircraft parts.

It is the second helicopter project for KAI, which developed the medium-weight Surion utility helicopter with Eurocopter.

KAI will select a foreign partner in coming months to jointly build the Light Civil Helicopter (LCH) for maritime surveillance and transport purposes by 2020. The LCH is subsequently to be modified into a military version — the Light Armed Helicopter (LAH) — by 2022 to replace the aging fleet of 500MDs and AS-1s.

“A final contract for the LCH/LAH development is scheduled for November in close consultations with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy,” DAPA spokesman Baek Yoon-hyung said in a briefing. “The project will not only help upgrade our defense capability but also improve the quality of our aerospace industry to a greater extent.”

The project will involve more than 1 trillion won (US $974 million) in fresh investments, the spokesman said, adding the costs are expected to be funded by the government, KAI and a foreign partner.

KAI said the dual development of the LCH and LAH will help increase commonality of components up to 60 percent, leading to stable logistics support and reducing development and maintenance costs.

“A joint development of the LCH and LAH is estimated to help reduce overall costs by 340 billion won,” KAI spokesman Lee Myung-hwan said.

The company aims to sell 1,000 aircraft, of which about 600 could be sold overseas, according to Lee.

The helicopter project is projected to generate 33 trillion won worth of domestic production and may contribute up to 50 trillion won for the economy, with some 160,000 workers being employed for the project, he added.

Among the candidates for foreign partnership are AgustaWestland, Airbus Helicopter, Bell and Sikorsky, according to KAI officials.

Airbus Helicopter, formerly known as Eurocopter, is referred to as a leading contender, as it has a record of cooperating with KAI to develop the Surion.

KAI CEO Ha Sung-yong said recently that he received assurances from the European company that there will be no limits to where the new helicopter will be sold, unlike Surion, which is restricted to sales in Europe.

Airbus Helicopter is offering an enlarged AS365 Dauphin, while Bell is proposing a largely new helicopter. Sikorsky is offering an S-76 with bigger fuselage, and AgustaWestland is proposing its AW169 model, according to DAPA officials.
 

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Source (German): http://www.flugrevue.de/militaerluftfahrt/kampfflugzeuge-helikopter/kai-entwickelt-neuen-militaerhubschrauber/583526
 

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From KAI facebook.

Pretty much a AS365 Dauphin / AS565 Panther

Though like the Z-19 maybe there is hope for a more dangerous looking Attack/Recon helicopter in the future.

The LAH's role will be something like the Kiowa in my opinion (no mast mounted sight is a downside and a shame though, Korea has excellent terrain for it). Feeding information to our Apache Guardians.

What does everyone think of the Chin mounted cannon. Seems useless to me.
 
Airbus and KAI to build light armed helicopter for South Korea
Airbus Helicopters will join with Korea Aerospace Industries in developing two 5-ton class rotorcraft that meet South Korea’s requirements for its next-generation Light Civil Helicopter (LCH) and Light Armed Helicopter (LAH).
As the LCH and LAH competition winner, Airbus Helicopters will continue its highly successful relationship with Korea Aerospace Industries, including the joint program that developed Korea’s Surion twin-engine utility transport helicopter.
“We would like to express our deep gratitude to Korea Aerospace Industries and the South Korean government for entrusting us with this major helicopter program,” said Airbus Helicopters President Guillaume Faury. “We are committing our full support in ensuring the LCH and LAH projects will be completed on time, on cost and to specification.”
Both the LCH and LAH will be based on Airbus Helicopters’ H155 (formerly known as the EC155) – the latest evolution of its best-selling Dauphin family, which includes the Panther military and parapublic variants that have demonstrated their capabilities in operation around the world.
As part of the new commitment, Airbus Helicopters will transfer the company’s technical know-how – as already demonstrated in the Surion program – to ensure Korea is able to develop its newest indigenous products, which will become leading next-generation light rotorcraft in the 5 metric ton weight category.
“The LCH and LAH programs will build on our collaboration with Korea Aerospace Industries on the Surion, which has become a reference in successful rotorcraft collaboration. By continuing our relationship, we will significantly reduce the risks of these two new development programs, while meeting all of the mission requirements,” added Faury.
The LCH version is expected to enter service in 2020 while the service introduction of the LAH is targeted for 2022.

Pitty, that the KAI's own design has been cancelled or shelved away. :(

Edit:
Added the comparison linked by Mach42 before.
 

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I wonder what a militarized H160 would look like? An Airbus Helicopters H160M. Dauphin 3?
 

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http://aviationweek.com/awinbizav/lch-helicopter-basis-military-lah-makes-first-flight

because of recent accident of Marine version of KUH-1, it made 'silent' first flight of LCH in Korea.
 
Roll-out today ;)
 

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The changing configuration since 2015 has been interesting, with subtle differences in the position of the sighting system, and with an undated artwork showing different pylons and a roof mounted sight, and the most recent KAI website picture showing a skid-type landing gear.

The models are from 2015, 2016 and 2018, the latter being very close to the configuration rolled out on Tuesday.
 

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A couple from the rollout
 

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and some more from the TV!
 

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Final two
 

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I'd be more inclined to criticise it for being no more than a mildly warmed over Dauphin, and for being, like the MD500 before it, a platform that the North Koreans will be able to deploy 'in lookalike form' for special operations, if required.
 
LAH cleared for LRIP:
 
on a related note.. can South Korea export the LAH? it seems to be bsaed on the Airbus H155 Dauphin family
 
Marineon, Surion, Vaporion, Jolteon..
these KAI helicopter namessound like pokemon evolutions
they somehow also look a bit retro too, reminding me a bit like Sokols W-3 helicopters.
 
They did so good with their KFX that now the absurdity of such move draws doubts on their claims.
 
curious to how it compares to the Z-9 variants, especially as both are derived from the Dauphin
 

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