Military Equipment

AMONG the exhibits at the Royal Navy Equipment Exhibition (RNEE) in Portsmouth and at Milcomp in Wembley were many developing technologies related to aerospace. Particularly note‐worthy at RNEE were various Westland activities including its part in the EH101 programme where 10 pre‐production aircraft will be used in ground and flight testing. Another development concerns two Navy Lynx helicopters undertaking flying at Yeovil for the Royal Navy Mk 8 programme, with a third aircraft due to start trials before the end of the year. The Lynx Mk 8 with an increased gross weight will have GEM 42–1 engines, composite rotor blades, improved tail rotor and a 360° nose radome as well as the new central tactical system. On board systems will also include a positive identification device and the helicopter will be armed with 4 Sea Skua missiles or a choice of torpedoes/depth charges. The Mk 8 Royal Navy Lynx will be in service from the early 1990s. Among techniques illustrated by Westland was active vibration control in which levels of vibration are monitored at certain points throughout the structure. This information is fed to a control computer which then introduces a phase of vibration to counter the original level of vibration. Trials on two Sikorsky helicopters are under way and considerable interest has been shown by engine manufacturers.