v1.0.1 / 01 sep 07 / greg goebel / public domain
* Although the Westland company of the UK originally got into the helicopter business by license-building American Sikorsky-designed machines, the company moved on to design their own types, first obtaining a modest success with the "Scout / Wasp" light helicopter, and then achieving a much greater success with the "Lynx" army and navy helicopter. This document provides a history and description of the Scout / Wasp and Lynx.
* Although autogyro pioneer Juan de La Cierva was killed in an airliner crash in 1936, his company survived through World War II. In the postwar period, the Cierva company developed a two-seat piston-powered helicopter, with the first flight of the initial prototype, the "W.14 Skeeter 1", on 8 October 1948. The prototype needed some work, which continued after the firm was bought out by the Saunders-Roe (SARO) company in 1951 -- the design progressing through improved "Skeeter 2" through "Skeeter 6" variants, featuring increasingly more powerful engines and other refinements.
After almost a decade of development, the Skeeter 6 seemed like it was ready for production, with the British government ordering a small evaluation batch, including three "Skeeter 6A / Air Observation Post Mark 10 (AOP.10)" machines for the British Army and one "Skeeter 6B / Trainer Mark 11 (T.11)" for the British Royal Air Force. The Skeeter 6 was of conventional main-tail rotor configuration; it featured a three-blade main rotor, a two-blade tail rotor, and tricycle wheeled landing gear. It was powered by a 150 kW (200 HP) aircooled inline Gipsy Major 201 engine; the T.11 had twin controls.
The evaluation went well enough to obtain a full service batch of "Skeeter 7"
machines, similar to the Skeeter 6 but with an uprated Gipsy Major 215
engine, providing 160 kW (215 HP). The Army obtained 64 "Skeeter 7A /
AOP.12" machines, with the RAF ordering a small number of "Skeeter 7B / T.13"
rotorcraft. The Skeeter went into operational service in 1958. The West
German Army also ordered six Skeeter 7s as the "Skeeter Mark 50", with the
West German Navy ordering four more as the "Skeeter Mark 51".
SARO SKEETER 7:
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spec metric english
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main rotor diameter 9.76 meters 32 feet
tail rotor diameter 1.83 meters 6 feet
footprint length 8.66 meters 28 feet 4 inches
height (rotor head) 2.99 meters 9 feet 10 inches
MTO weight 1,000 kilograms 2,200 pounds
maximum speed 170 KPH 105 MPH / 95 KT
service ceiling 3,550 meters 11,650 feet
range 380 kilometers 235 MI / 205 NMI
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A "Skeeter 8" was designed for the commercial market, with one prototype
built, but there were no sales. Skeeter production ended in 1960. The
German Skeeters were passed on to Portugal in 1961. Skeeters were generally
out of service by the end of the 1960s.
* The Skeeter was an endearing little machine that looks like it would have been great fun to fly, but it wasn't much more than a toy, and about ten years behind the times. The design team did acquire experience to help them develop more modern and capable rotorcraft, beginning work in 1957 on a general-purpose five-seat turboshaft-powered helicopter for a British Army requirement, with the Royal Navy expressing interest in a shipboard variant. The design project was given the designation of "P.531", with full development and construction of two prototypes authorized at the beginning of 1958.
The P.531 was also of conventional main-tail rotor configuration, with a four-blade main rotor and a two-blade tail rotor; it had a certain general resemblance to the Skeeter, but was larger and more capable. Initial flight of the first prototype was on 20 July 1958, with the second prototype following on 30 September 1958. The prototypes were powered by a Blackburn (license-built French Turbomeca) Turmo turboshaft, with 240 kW (325 SHP), that engine having been trialled in a Skeeter. SARO was bought out by Westland in 1960, but the development program continued.
An improved prototype designated "P.531-2", featuring a Rolls-Royce Bristol Nimbus free-turbine turboshaft engine providing 510 kW (685 kW), performed its initial flight on 9 August 1959. The British Army expressed interest, with the production prototype of the Army variant, designated the "Scout AH.1", performing its initial flight on 4 August 1960. The Scout went into Army service in the spring of 1963, serving in the utility and armed helicopter roles, and seeing action of sorts in Northern Ireland.
The Royal Navy also ordered the type, with the production prototype of the "Wasp HAS.1" performing its initial flight on 28 October 1962, and introduction to service in late 1963. It was used for utility and antisubmarine warfare roles.
* The Army Scout was powered by the Rolls-Royce Bristol Nimbus Mark 103 or 104 turboshaft with 530 kW (710 SHP). It featured a folding main rotor. Crew accommodations included two seats forward and a three-person bench seat in back. There were four hinged doors. The bench seat could be removed for cargo carriage, or for fit of two casualty litters, with another litter carried on each side of the helicopter externally for a total of four litters. External slung load was up to 680 kilograms (1,500 pounds). A rescue hoist was optional. The machine featured skid landing gear.
British Army Scouts were in some cases configured to carry two Nord (later Aerospatiale) SS-11 wire-guided antitank missiles, directed by a stabilized sight in the roof, and could be fitted to carry a single pintle-mounted light machine gun in one of the doors; another pintle-mounted machine gun could be in principle mounted on the other side, but this was a cramped fit. Alternative armament of two light machine guns could be carried in a fixed forward-firing configuration, with the weapons sighted by a graticule painted on the windscreen.
The total number of Scouts built for the British Army is unclear, with some sources giving as many as 160. Exports were modest: two for the Australian Navy, three for Jordan, two for the Ugandan police, and two for the Bahrain police.
* The Royal Navy Wasp was similar to the Scout but had four-wheel landing
gear for deck handling. The landing gear was splayed and had heavy shock
mounts to ease landing on pitching frigates and other vessels. The Wasp also
had a folding tailboom; inflatable floatation gear carried in pods that
looked like fuel tanks, mounted on struts alongside the upper fuselage; and
featured the folding main rotor used on the Scout. A total of 245 kilograms
(540 pounds) of offensive stores could be carried under the fuselage,
including two homing torpedoes or depth charges. A few Wasps were configured
to carry two SS.11 or two of the larger AS.12 wire-guided missiles.
WESTLAND WASP HAS.1:
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spec metric english
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main rotor diameter 9.83 meters 32 feet 3 inches
tail rotor diameter 2.29 meters 7 feet 6 inches
fuselage length 9.24 meters 30 feet 4 inches
footprint length 12.29 meters 40 feet 4 inches
height (tail rotor) 3.56 meters 11 feet 8 inches
height (rotor head) 2.72 meters 8 feet 11 inches
empty weight 1,565 kilograms 3,450 pounds
MTO weight 2,495 kilograms 5,500 pounds
maximum speed 195 KPH 120 MPH / 105 KT
service ceiling 3,720 meters 12,200 feet
range 490 kilometers 305 MI / 265 NMI
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A total of 98 Wasp HAS.1 helicopters was built for the Royal Navy, with most
of these machines phased out by the late 1980s. Wasps served in the
Falklands War, operating off older vessels that couldn't support more
formidable helicopters, and fought in several clashes, as detailed below.
35 Wasps were also built for foreign air arms, including Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and South Africa. Brazilian Wasps were configured to carry unguided rocket pods. Some of the export Wasps lingered on in service into the 1990s, and a few may still be flying.
* In the mid-1960s, the British military had requirements for improved helicopters. Since the French military had a similar set of requirements, in early 1967 Westland of the UK and Aerospatiale of France signed an agreement to collaborate on helicopter development for their military forces.
The collaboration focused on three helicopters. Aerospatiale was the design leader for a large helicopter, which would emerge as the "Puma", and for a light helicopter, which would emerge as the "Gazelle". Westland, took design leadership for a medium helicopter originally designated "WG.13".
Various elements of WG.13 technology were trialled on Scouts, and a mockup of the WG.13 was displayed at the Paris Air Show in 1970, with the machine given the name of "Lynx". The first WG.13 prototype performed its initial flight on 21 March 1971, painted bright yellow and with Ron Gellatly at the controls. Development was running a good part of a year behind schedule at that time, partly because Rolls-Royce was having troubles getting the BS.360 -- later known as the "Gem" -- powerplants up to specified power.
Four more development prototypes were built, the last performing its initial flight on 8 March 1972. They were followed by eight preproduction machines, with subsets of the batch configured as British Army, Royal Navy machines, or Aeronavale (French naval air arm) machines. Lynx production deliveries began in 1977.
* The initial British Army production variant was the "Lynx AH Mark 1 (AH.1)", the first performing its initial flight on 12 February 1977, and going into formal service in 1978. The AH.1 provides a useful baseline for other Lynx variants.
As it emerged, the Lynx had little or no relationships to the Scout; in fact, it had a certain general resemblance to the US Bell UH-1 Huey and could be confused for one by an observer with a limited familiarity with helicopters. The Lynx was a conventional main-tail rotor design, with four-blade main and tail rotors. It was powered by twin Rolls Royce Gem 2 turboshafts providing 670 kW (900 SHP) each, mounted on top of the fuselage. The Lynx AH.1 featured skid landing gear.
The Lynx AH.1 could carry a pilot and copilot in a side-by-side cockpit, with
up to ten armed or twelve unarmed troops in a cabin with minimum length,
width, and height of 2.06 x 1.78 x 1.42 meters (6 feet 9 inches x 5 feet 10
inches x 4 feet 8 inches) respectively. There were crew doors on each side
of the cockpit and large sliding doors on both sides of the passenger / cargo
cabin; all four doors could be jettisoned in an emergency. Other possible
loads included three casualty litters plus an attendant; an internal cargo
load of 900 kilograms (2,000 pounds); or a slung load of 1,360 kilograms
(3,000 pounds). A Belgian FN GPMG 7.62 millimeter machine gun could be
mounted on a pintle in each door.
WESTLAND LYNX AH.1:
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spec metric english
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main rotor diameter 12.8 meters 42 feet
tail rotor diameter 2.21 meters 7 feet 3 inches
fuselage length 12.06 meters 39 feet 7 inches
footprint length 15.16 meters 49 feet 9 inches
height (tail rotor) 3.66 meters 12 feet
height (rotor head) 2.96 meters 9 feet 9 inches
empty weight 2,785 kilograms 6,145 pounds
max loaded weight 4,535 kilograms 10,000 pounds
maximum speed 250 KPH 160 MPH / 140 KT
hover ceiling 3,230 meters 10,600 feet
range 540 kilometers 335 MI / 290 NMI
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A total of 113 Lynx AH.1s was obtained for the British Army and the Royal
Marines into 1984, the machines being used for tactical troop transport,
cargo transport, and casualty evacuation roles. The Royal Marines had hoped
to obtain their own variant, the "Lynx AH.6", something like an AH.1 with
navalizations such as wheeled landing gear, folding tailboom, and
deck-capture harpoon system -- but in the end the additional functionality of
the AH.6 was not seen as worth the additional price, and the Royal Marines
went with the AH.1.
* Pilots found the Lynx AH.1 extremely agile, due in large part to its French-designed titanium rotor hub, and great fun to fly. Although the Lynx AH.1 had been obtained for the utility role, its agility inspired the notion that it might make a good anti-armor helicopter as well, and so in the early 1980s, 60 Lynx AH.1s were configured to carry the US Hughes TOW wire-guided antitank missile, with four missiles in a pack on each side of the helicopter and a boxy M65 stabilized optical sight on top left side of the cockpit. These machines were formally designated "Lynx AH.1 TOW", but in practice they were almost always referred to as "AH.1s". The TOW Lynx AH.1s were used by both the British Army and the Royal Marines.
While using a transport helicopter design as an anti-armor gunship was seen as backwards in places like the US and USSR, which had developed optimized helicopter gunships, the Lynx proved very competent in the role, with the roof-mounted sight allowing the helicopter to stay below the treeline while Westland / Aerospatiale Gazelle helicopters scouted targets. The cargo capacity of the Lynx allowed it to carry eight TOW reloads to improve its effectiveness on the battlefield, or drop a squad of troops with Milan light anti-tank missiles to set up traps.
* The 102nd production Lynx AH.1 was send aside as a trials aircraft and used for evaluating a wide range of fits, including the weapons fits such as 20 millimeter cannon and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles (AAMs). It was also substantially reconfigured for an attempt on the pure rotorcraft world speed record, being aerodynamically cleaned up and fitted with twin auxiliary tailfins; a new composite main rotor with swept tips, developed under the British Experimental Rotor Program (BERP); and powerful Gem 60 engines providing 940 kW (1,260 SHP) each. The engines featured water-methanol power boost, exhausts pointing backwards to give additional thrust, and were qualified for operating at redline for five minutes. The successful record flight was on 11 August 1986, with the machine flying a 15 kilometer (9.3 mile) course at an average speed of 400.87 KPH (249 MPH). The aircrew included pilot Trevor Eggington and flight engineer Derek Clews.
The demonstrator was later returned to a more conventional Army Lynx configuration and fitted with twin Allison-Garrett LHTEC T800 turboshafts, providing 1,007 kW (1,350 SHP) each. It was finally retired in 1995 and now resides at the Helicopter Museum in the UK.
* Following deliveries of the Lynx AH.1, the Army ordered five "Lynx AH.5" machines for evaluation that were similar to the AH.1, but featured uprated powerplants and an improved power transmission system to handle the increase in power. The first three were fitted with Gem 41-1 turboshafts providing 835 kW (1,120 SHP) each and referred to by the designation of "AH.5 Interim", while the last two were full-spec AH.5s with Gem 42 turboshafts providing the same power levels.
The AH.5s led to the improved "Lynx AH.7" production variant, which featured the Gem 42 engines, plus:
The first AH.7 was an upgraded AH.5, performing its initial flight in its new configuration on 13 June 1986. A total of ten AH.7s was built new, including six that were originally ordered as AH.5s; 107 more AH.7s were produced by upgrade of AH.1s and AH.5s. Some of the upgraded AH.1s were originally upgraded to an interim "AH.1GT" configuration, with the new engines and tail rotor, before being fully upgraded to AH.7 spec. The upgrades included TOW-equipped machines.
In service, the Lynx AH.7s were upgraded with the BERP main rotor, a Sky Guardian radar warning receiver (RWR) -- later replaced by the Marconi AWARE-3 RWR -- and other smaller improvements. Apparently a few AH.7s were obtained by the Special Air Service (SAS) commando organization, to be fitted with heavy mounts for 12.7 millimeter machine guns, and likely other specialized kit.
* The British Army made very good use of the Lynx. It saw extensive service in Northern Ireland, providing troop mobility in areas where ground transport might well be bombed. At least one AH.7 was fitted with a "Chancellor" TV / infrared imaging ball turret on the left side of the fuselage behind the cargo door, with the turret used to observe Irish Republican Army activities.
Anti-tank Lynxes served with distinction in the 1991 Gulf War, known as OPERATION GRANBY in the UK in contrast to the American OPERATION DESERT STORM. The basic combat team consisted of two TOW Lynxes and two Gazelles, though sometimes larger hunter-killer groups were deployed. They were painted in desert sand colors and racked up big scores with TOWs on Iraqi armor. The TOW Lynxes were fitted with sand filters and countermeasures kit, including the hay box exhaust suppressors, the AN/ALQ-144 disco-light jammer, and the Sky Guardian RWR.
* Even as the Lynx was establishing itself in British Army service, Westland was working on an advanced successor, referred to as the "Lynx 3", partly with a Franco-German helicopter gunship requirement in mind. The Lynx 3 was a major modification, with a new, thicker tailboom that featured prominent tailfins; Gem 60-3/1 engines, with 940 kW (1,260 SHP) each; a stretched forward fuselage; wheeled high-shock tricycle landing gear to provide better crash survivability; and carriage of the US Hellfire anti-tank missile, the much improved successor to the TOW.
The prototype Lynx 3 performed its initial flight on 14 June 1984. The French and the Germans decided to collaborate on a different machine, which would emerge as the Eurocopter Tiger. The Lynx 3 proved too much a departure and too expensive for other potential customers; it never went into production, and Westland abandoned the program in 1987. The Lynx 3 ended up in the Helicopter Museum.
However, the exercise was not a complete waste of time, since some of the technology was leveraged into an improved Lynx Mark 7 variant, the "Lynx Mark 9". In general, the Mark 9 was a Lynx AH.7 with the crashworthy wheeled landing gear, fitted from the start with the hay box infrared suppressors and BERP rotor blades. The British Army ordered 16 of the variant, which were designated "Lynx AH.9", and eight Lynx AH.7s were updated to the same standard. In service, the AH.9 was called the "wheely bin".
The AH.9s were later fitted with true passenger seats to improve crashworthiness, reducing load to six equipped or nine unequipped troops. Since elimination of the landing skids meant that troops rapelling out of the helicopter didn't have a convenient step outside the doors, provision was included for a bolt-on step for that purpose.
The new landing gear scheme prevented the AH.9 from using the same TOW carriage arrangement as the AH.7, and so the AH.9s were not used in the tank-killer role. Westland did consider a new TOW carriage arrangement, optional T800 engines, and a wide range of other enhancements for the AH.9 as the "Battlefield Lynx" for the export market, but nobody bought off on the idea.
The Lynx is now being replaced in the anti-armor role by the Boeing / Westland WAH-64 Apache AH Mark 1 gunship, armed with the more potent Hellfire anti-armor missile, and the anti-armor Lynx will be phased out in the 2005:2010 timeframe, with the machines to be transferred to the light utility helicopter role.
The Lynx continues to serve with the British military in many roles and, as discussed later, is likely to continue to do so in improved variants for decades to come. Interestingly, the British Army used the Lynx Mark 7 during the occupation of Iraq from the spring of 2003, mostly because the Mark 9 had a navigation kit designed for use in Germany and the Mark 7's navigation kit was more appropriate for Iraq. The lighter weight -- about 90 kilograms / 200 pounds -- was also an asset in the hot climate.
* The army variants of the Lynx have had almost no success in the export market, with a grand total of three "Lynx Mark 28s" sold to the police force of Qatar, all three being delivered in 1978. These machines were similar to the Lynx AH.1, the major differences being fit of sand filters and some different communications electronics. They were updated with Gem 41-7 engines during their time of service. They were sold back to Britain in 1991. There was an effort to sell army Lynxes to a number of other Arab states that got to an advanced stage, but then fell apart.
The low sales are a bit puzzling. It might be thought that the Army Lynx simply could not meet the competition presented by the US Bell UH-1 Huey and then the US Sikorsky S-70 series, both of which were widely sold all over the planet, but naval variants of the Lynx have proven very successful in the export market against much the same competition. In fact, the Lynx is so identified as a naval helicopter that the general assumption has been that it was originally designed for naval requirements and then adopted by the army, when the truth is exactly the opposite.
* Of course, as the Lynx was being developed, the Royal Navy had a strong interest in the type, and so a navalized Lynx was developed in parallel to the Army Lynx. The Royal Navy found the Wasp inadequate and had an immediate need for a more effective replacement, so development of the naval Lynx was given priority.
Initial flight of the initial Royal Navy production "Lynx HAS.2" was on 10 February 1976, with the type entering formal service in early 1981. The Lynx HAS.2 featured the twin Gem 2 powerplants of the British Army Lynx HAS.1, but differed in having a folding main rotor; fixed tricycle landing gear, with a twin-wheel nose gear and single-wheel main gear; a harpoon deck capture system and deck restraint systems; a two-bag emergency floatation system; and a "big nose" accommodating Ferranti Seaspray offensive radar.
A total of 60 Lynx HAS.2s was obtained by the Royal Navy, the type being used
in transport, scout, and maritime combat roles. It could carry twin Mark 46
or Stingray homing torpedoes; twin depth charges; or four Sea Skua antiship
missiles. In service, most HAS.2s were upgraded with provisions for carrying
a towed "magnetic anomaly detector (MAD)" antisubmarine sensor, and a Decca
MIR-2 Orange Crop "electronic support measures (ESM)" system to locate and
target radar / radio emitters.
WESTLAND LYNX HAS.2:
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spec metric english
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main rotor diameter 12.8 meters 42 feet
tail rotor diameter 2.21 meters 7 feet 3 inches
fuselage length 11.92 meters 39 feet 1 inch
footprint length 15.16 meters 49 feet 9 inches
height (tail rotor) 3.60 meters 11 feet 10 inches
height (rotor head) 2.96 meters 9 feet 9 inches
empty weight 3,345 kilograms 7,370 pounds
max loaded weight 4,765 kilograms 10,500 pounds
maximum speed 230 KPH 145 MPH / 125 KT
hover ceiling 2,575 meters 8,450 feet
combat radius 95 kilometers 60 MI / 50 NMI
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24 Lynx HAS.2s were used by the Royal Navy during OPERATION CORPORATE, the
1982 effort to reclaim the Falkland Islands from Argentina. Three were lost
when the ships carrying them -- ARDENT, ATLANTIC CONVEYOR, and COVENTRY --
were sunk, and one on the HMS BROADSWORD lost its nose when a dud bomb passed
through the helicopter deck. There were no losses in direct combat -- though
one Lynx pilot had to do some fancy flying to dodge the attacks of two
Argentine Dagger / Mirage fighters -- or from accidents during the operation,
and the Lynxes showed their claws.
On 2 April 1982, two Lynxes attacked the Argentine submarine SANTA FE as it tried to leave Grytviken harbor on South Georgia, an island well to the east of the Falklands that the Argentines had also occupied. One Lynx dropped a homing torpedo, which continued to cruise around under the submarine, waiting for it to dive; the submarine's skipper decided not to, and returned to harbor, where the vessel was then worked over by the Lynxes with their machine guns and then disabled by Wasps firing AS-12 missiles.
On the night of 3 May, a Lynx operating in foul weather hit the Argentine patrol boat ALFEREZ SORBAL with four Sea Skuas. The boat wasn't sunk, but it was definitely no longer a threat. The Sea Skua hadn't actually been completely qualified for service at the time, but it had been rushed into combat. A Lynx scored two hits with Sea Skuas on the Argentine supply ship RIO CARACANA on 23 May, which had been previously damaged by British Harrier jump-jets, and finally decided to sink; while a Sea Skua damaged the patrol boat RIO IGUAXU on 13 June.
* There were a number of export variants of the Lynx HAS.2:
The Netherlands also obtained ten "Lynx Mark 27" AKA "SH-14B" machines for maritime warfare in 1978 and 1979, with these helicopters fitted with Gem 4 Mark 1010 engines providing 836 kW (1,120 SHP), and carrying Alcatel DUAV-4A dunking sonar, along with twin Mark 46 homing torpedoes. All the surviving UH-14A and SH-14B machines were upgraded in the 1990s, as discussed in the next section.
The Mark 86s were actually operated by the Norwegian Air Force on behalf of the Coast Guard, with the Air Force providing pilots, navigators, and techs, while the Coast Guard provided the winchmen and the deck management personnel.
* After acquiring the HAS.3, the British Royal Navy obtained a modest upgrade, the "Lynx HAS.3", the main feature of which was Gem 42-1 Mark 204 engines with 836 kW (1,120 SHP) -- much the same as the Gem 4 Mark 1010 engines fitted to some export HAS.2 variants -- plus the three-pinion gearbox to handle the greater power. It also featured a new four-bag floatation system; Orange Crop ESM, with a litter of antennas under the tailboom; and provisions for MAD were provided from the outset.
A total of 23 new-build Lynx HAS.3 machines were obtained by the Royal Navy from 1982 into 1985; they were followed by seven machines that added a secure radio system and were given the designation of "Lynx HAS.3S". 53 surviving HAS.2 machines were upgraded to Lynx HAS.3S standard as well. The Royal Navy HAS.3/3S machines have been upgraded in service:
The HAS.3 and HAS.3S/GM machines often carried a "Yellow Veil" radar jamming pod, and sometimes a Herstal 12.7 millimeter machine gun pod. They made enthusiastic use of the Sea Skua, scoring 17 hits and sinking 14 Iraqi vessels.
Export users of the HAS.3 included:
The Danish Mark 80s were unarmed, though they retained Seaspray radar, and had non-folding tailbooms. They were delivered with Gem 2 Mark 1001 engines, with 670 kW (900 SHP) each, but then upgraded to the more powerful Gem 42-1 Mark 204 engines. The Mark 90s were delivered with the uprated engines. Apparently they were all later fitted with improved gearboxes.
The Danish Lynxes received an extensive service upgrade in the early 1990s, to be redesignated "Lynx Mark 80A" and "Lynx Mark 90A". Upgraded kit included a GPS receiver and other cockpit upgrades, a datalink, an Orange Reaper RWR, a Racal Kestrel ESM, and an AN/AAQ-22 SAFIRE FLIR in an underfuselage turret. A second-level upgrade was begun later in the decade to bring them up to "Super Lynx" standard, as discussed below.
The entire Dutch Lynx fleet was upgraded to "SH-14D" standards in the early 1990s, with all 22 survivors fitted with Gem 42 engines, given dipping sonar, and equipped with an updated avionics suite. The SH-14Ds were later fitted with BERP rotor blades, a Model 200HP FLIR turret, and a four-bag floatation system.
* In parallel with the dead-end Army Lynx 3, Westland mocked up a corresponding "Naval Lynx 3" with the same fat tailboom, tailfins, and other airframe changes, plus an undernose drum radome for 360-degree radar and a FLIR turret on top of the nose. Nobody bit on the Navy Lynx 3 either, but some of its advanced features would be used in the third-generation naval Lynx, the Royal Navy "Lynx HMA.8" and its export "Super Lynx" equivalents.
The Lynx HMA.8 was something of a parallel upgrade to the Army Lynx AH.7, featuring Gem 42 Series 200 engines with 686 kW (920 SHP), BERP rotor blades, and the wider, reverse direction composite tail rotor. Externally, the HMA.8 featured an undernose drum radome for Seaspray Mark 3 360-degree radar, though due to economy measures the older 180 degree Seaspray Mark 1 was retained, using the undernose radome; and a Sea Owl electro-optical "Passive Identification Device (PID)" fitted onto a turret in the nose. Other improvements include the RAMS 4000 CTS system evaluated on the Lynx HAS.3CTS machines, plus other new avionics such as a GPS navigation receiver, and the four-bag floatation gear that was retrofitted to some Lynx HAS.3 machines.
Three of the HAS.3CTS machines were used for trials of HMA.8 systems. All production machines were conversions, with the three prototypes brought up to operational spec and at least 48 conversions of other Royal Navy HAS.3-type machines. Introduction of the HMA.8 to service was in 1995. Once in line service, the HMA.3 was upgraded with new bolted rotor head, and the Seaspray Mark 1 radar was given digital signal processing capabilities (DSP); the machines with the upgraded radar were redesignated "HMA.8DSP" or "HMA.8(DP)".
* The specific fit of the Super Lynx export variants varied from customer to customer, the only common elements being the four-bag floatation system and the undernose radome -- though different radars could be fitted. Gem 42 engines were fitted initially, with the BERP main rotor, composite tail rotor, and a nose imager turret optional. Of course, avionics was customer-specific, with general provisions for different kinds of dipping sonar. New weapons options were also offered, with the ability to carry the Noregian Kongsberg Penguin antiship missile as an alternative to the Sea Skua, as well as either US Stinger or French Mistral AAMs.
Later in the 1990s, Westland came up with the "Super Lynx Mark 200", which exchanged the Gem engines with LHTEC CTS800 turboshafts -- the CTS800 is the commercial equivalent of the T800 evaluated on the Lynx earlier -- and then the "Super Lynx Mark 300", with both the CTS800 engines plus a full glass cockpit and modernized avionics system, derived from the Agusta-Westland EH101 helicopter. Other options were available, such as a wire-cutter system.
Sales of the Super Lynx on the export market have been no disappointment:
Incidentally, in 2000 Westland and the Italian Agusta helicopter company merged, and so the Lynx is now properly referred to as the "AgustaWestland" Lynx.
* The Lynx has proven a valuable asset in British service, and an improved Lynx, known simply as the "Future Lynx", is now being acquired by the British Army and Royal Navy. Current plans are to acquire 70 machines through remanufacture, 40 going to the British Army and 30 to the Royal Navy. In-service date is 2014.
The Future Lynx will be fitted with the LHTEC CTS800 turboshaft, raising the Future Lynx's payload to 2,056 kilograms (4,533 pounds), 20% more than the current Lynx AH.9. Some airframe improvements will also be incorporated, most prominently Westland 30-style tailfins. Other improvements include a digital glass cockpit with four large multifunction displays (MFDs); an advanced countermeasures suite; improved IFF and data modem; a nose-mounted electro-optical sensor turret; and laser target designator.
* One of the interesting sidebars to the Lynx story was that Westland designed a larger transport helicopter, the "Westland 30", based on the Lynx dynamic system but with a large-volume fuselage only loosely related to the original Lynx. The initial prototype made its first flight on 10 April 1979, leading to the first flight of the initial production machine in September 1981.
The Westland 30 was intended as a commercial or military transport. In civil
form, it could carry up to 22 passengers in a high-density configuration. In
its "TT.30" military form, it could accommodate 14 equipped troops, 17
unequipped troops, or six litters with medical attendants. The initial
"Series 100" variant was powered by twin Rolls-Royce Gem 4 turboshafts
providing 845 kW (1,120 SHP) each; it was followed by the "Series 100-60",
with Gem 6 engines providing 940 kW (1,260 SHP) each. Along with the twin
engines, it also had wider main and tail rotors, as well as retractable
landing gear, with twin wheeled nose gear and single wheeled main gear. A
single passenger door with an "airstair" was used for the passenger
compartment, though the Westland 30 could also be ordered with sliding doors
on both sides; as with the Lynx, the Westland 30 had cockpit side doors.
WESTLAND 30 SERIES 100-60:
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spec metric english
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main rotor diameter 13.3 meters 43 feet 8 inches
tail rotor diameter 2.44 meters 8 feet
footprint length 15.91 meters 52 feet 2 inches
height (tail rotor) 4.74 meters 15 feet 6 inches
empty weight 3,790 kilograms 8,355 pounds
MTO weight 5,600 kilograms 12,530 pounds
maximum cruise speed 220 KPH 135 MPH / 120 KT
service ceiling 790 meters 2,600 feet
range 350 kilometers 220 MI / 190 NMI
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
The Series 100-60 was followed by improved Series 200 and Series 300
variants, with various enhancements such as more powerful engines, but the
Westland 30 did not take the world by storm. Only small numbers were sold to
civil operators, such as British Airways, and there were no sales to military
forces. The Westland 30's lack of success appears to have been a
contributing factor to a major financial crisis at Westland, which would lead
to a political crisis and, ultimately, to the creation of AgustaWestland.
* There were a number of unbuilt variants of the Lynx. The original WG.13 specification that created the Lynx also included a concept for an optimized two-man helicopter gunship, with a slender fuselage, retractable landing gear, and a turret under the nose. It was intended mainly for the French Army, with an eye towards the armed scout role, but it never went beyond the paper stage, the French obtaining armed Gazelles for the battlefield scout mission instead.
The Westland 30 civil transport helicopter derivative of the Lynx had been anticipated to an extent by an earlier concept, the Westland "Model 606", which was a Lynx with a fuselage stretch to accommodate up to 13 passengers, and uprated engines to handle the greater takeoff weight. One of the Lynx prototypes was hacked up to serve as a nonflying mockup of the Model 606 and displayed at the Farnborough Air Show in 1972, but nobody bit on the idea, and no flight prototype was ever built.
The British Army considered a training version of the Lynx AH.1 designated the "Lynx HT.1", but it was too big for introductory training and not big enough for heavy helicopter training. The Gazelle was acquired for introductory training and the Westland Wessex used for heavy helicopter training.
* The following table gives Lynx variants & production quantities:
variant built mod notes
________________________________________________________________________
WG.13 13 Prototypes (5) and preproduction machines (8).
________________________________________________________________________
Lynx AH.1 113 Initial British Army Lynx, includes TOW ships.
Lynx AH.5 5 Evaluation machines.
Lynx AH.7 10 107 Upgraded AH.1.
Lynx 3 1 One-off extensively modified Lynx prototype.
Lynx 9 16 8 Improved AH.7 with wheeled undercarriage.
Lynx Mk.28 3 Army Lynxes for Qatar.
________________________________________________________________________
148 subtotal Army Lynxes
________________________________________________________________________
Lynx HAS.2 60 Initial Royal Navy Lynx.
Lynx Mk.2(FN) 26 HAS.2 for French Aeronavale.
Lynx Mk.21 9 HAS.2 for Brazil.
Lynx Mk.23 2 HAS.2 for Argentina.
Lynx Mk.25 6 Dutch SAR Lynx HAS.2s, AKA UH-14A.
Lynx Mk.27 10 Dutch ASW Lynx HAS.2s, AKA SH-14B.
Lynx Mk.86 6 Norwegian HAS.2s for coast guard.
Lynx HAS.3 30 53 Upgraded Royal Navy Lynx.
Lynx Mk.4 (FN) 14 Aeronavale HAS.3 machines.
Lynx Mk.80 10 Danish fisheries patrol machines.
Lynx Mk.90 2 Danish attrition replacements (ex-Mk.87)
Lynx Mk.81 8 Dutch ASW machines, AKA SH-14C.
Lynx Mk.88 19 German ASW machines.
Lynx Mk.89 3 Nigerian machines.
Lynx HMA.8 - 51 Royal Navy Super Lynx.
Super Lynx Mk.21A 9 5 Brazilian Super Lynxes.
Super Lynx Mk.64 4 South African Super Lynx 300s.
Super Lynx Mk.88A 7 17 German Mk.88s upgraded to Super Lynx.
Super Lynx Mk.90B - 8 Danish machines upgraded to Super Lynx.
Super Lynx Mk.95 3 2 Portugese Super Lynxes.
Super Lynx Mk.99 15 South Korean Super Lynxes.
Super Lynx 300 6 Malaysian Super Lynxes.
Super Lynx 300 16 Omani multirole Super Lynxes.
Super Lynx 300 2 Thai Super Lynxes.
________________________________________________________________________
267 subtotal Army Lynxes
________________________________________________________________________
415 TOTAL LYNX PRODUCTION
________________________________________________________________________
* Helicopters are always dodgy to write up, because relatively few people
care about them and reliable details are hard to find. Trying to determine
production quantities, particularly of obscure types like the SARO Skeeter,
is a real pain, and the Skeeter / Scout / Wasp production quantities given
here are not much more than semi-educated guesswork. Hopefully I'll get some
better data in the future.
* Sources include:
The AgustaWestland website also had useful information on current Lynx sales deals.
* Revision history:
v1.0.0 / 01 oct 05 / gvg
v1.0.1 / 01 sep 07 / gvg / Minor cosmetic update.
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