Kaman SH-2 Seasprite

L'hélicoptère embarqué Kaman SH-2 Seasprite vu par Wikipedia.en

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The [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] SH-2 Seasprite is a ship-based [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] capability, including [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] targeting.

This aircraft extends and increases shipboard sensor and weapon capabilities against several types of enemy threats, including [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] of all types, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and patrol craft that may be armed with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

It was developed for the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] beginning in the late 1950s.

Design and development

To meet its requirements for a fast, all-weather utility helicopter the US Navy held a competition in 1956.

Kaman's K-20 model was selected as the winner.

Kaman was awarded a contract for four prototype and 12 production HU2K-1 helicopters in late 1957.

The Kaman design featured four blades on the main rotor and three blades on the tail rotor with a single [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-8F turboshaft engine.

When the aircraft numbering system was changed in 1962, the HU2K-1 was redesignated the UH-2A and the HU2K-1U was redesignated UH-2B.

The UH-2 was used from aircraft carriers for search and rescue.

The airframe continued to undergo upgrades, such as the addition of external stores stations.

Beginning in 1968, remaining UH-2s were upgraded to use two T58 engines.

The UH-2 was selected to be the airframe for the interim [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (LAMPS) helicopter in October 1970.^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}

LAMPS evolved in the late 1960s from an urgent requirement to develop a manned helicopter that would support a non-aviation ship and serve as its tactical Anti-Submarine Warfare arm.

Known as LAMPS Mark I, the advanced sensors, processors, and display capabilities aboard the helicopter enabled ships to extend their situational awareness beyond the line-of-sight limitations that hamper shipboard radars and the short
distances for acoustic detection and prosecution of underwater threats associated with hull-mounted sonars.

H-2s reconfigured for the LAMPS mission were redesignated SH-2D.

The first operational SH-2D LAMPS helicopter embarked on the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in December 1971.

The full LAMPS I system was equipped on the SH-2F.

The SH-2F was delivered to the Navy beginning in 1973.

This variant had upgraded engines, longer life rotor, and higher take-off weight.

In 1981, the Navy ordered 60 production SH-2Fs. Beginning in 1987, 16 SH-2Fs were upgraded with chin mounted Forward Looking Infrared Sensors (FLIR), Chaff (AIRBOC)/Flares, dual rear mounted IR scramblers, and Missile/Mine detecting equipment.

Eventually all but two H-2s then in Navy inventory were remanufactured into SH-2Fs.

The final production procurement of the SH-2F was in Fiscal Year 1986.

The last six orders for production SH-2Fs were switched to the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] variant.

Operational history

Following a few years of trials the UH-2 entered service in late 1962.

The UH-2 was primarily deployed aboard aircraft carriers in a Search-and-Rescue (SAR) role.

SH-2Fs were utilized to enforce [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (July 1987) and later [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (April 1988) and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (January 1991) in the Persian Gulf region.

The added countermeasures and equipment gave the SH-2F's enhanced survivability while taking on more surface related combat tasking in an environment of limited submarine threat.

The SH-2F was retired from active service in October 1993, at roughly the same time that the Navy retired and/or sold the last of its (Vietnam era) Knox Class Frigates that could not accommodate the newly acquired (and larger) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}

New Zealand

The [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (RNZN) replaced its [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] with two interim SH-2F Seasprites (ex-US Navy), operated and maintained by a mix of Navy and Air Force personnel known as [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Naval Support Flight, to operate with ANZAC class frigates until the fleet of five new [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] were delivered.

The Navy air element was transferred to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] at RNZAF Base Auckland in Whenuapai in October 2005. RNZN Seasprites have seen service in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Six additional SH-2Fs were purchased and are now stationed at the RNZAF Ground Training Wing (GTW) at Woodbourne near Blenheim as training helicopters.

An SH-2F (ex-RNZN, NZ3442) is preserved in the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], donated to the museum by Kaman Aircraft Corporation after an accident while in service with the RNZN.

Variants


YHU2K-1

Four test and evaluation prototypes. Later redesignated YUH-2A in 1962.^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}

HU2K-1

Utility transport helicopter, powered by a 1,250-shp (932-kW) General Electric T58-GE-8B turboshaft engine.

Initial production version.

Later redesignated UH-2A in 1962. 88 built.