ADVANCED ARMAMENT CARRIAGE FOR THE MARINE CORPS AH-1W ATTACK HELICOPTER

THE U.S. MARINE CORPS HAS A CRITICAL NEED FOR A NEW, STATE-OF-THE-ART SYSTEM FOR ARMAMENT CARRIAGE ON ITS AH-1W ATTACK HELICOPTER. THIS PHASE I EFFORT WILL PERFORM A TRADE/CONCEPTUAL DESIGN STUDY TO SYSTEMATICALLY IDENTIFY THE BEST DESIGN SOLUTION. THE MERITS, COSTS, AND RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH AN INNOVATIVE DESIGN SOLUTION (CONFORMAL WEAPONS PODS) WILL BE COMPARED TO MORE CONSERVATIVE DESIGN SOLUTIONS WHICH ONLY INCORPORATE MODIFICATIONS TO THE EXISTING ARAMENT STUBWING. A REPRESENTATIVE SET OF DESIGNS, FROM HIGH PERFORMANCE CONFORMAL WEAPONS PODS TO LOW RISK/LOW COST STUBWING MODIFICATIONS, WILL BE DEFINED. A COMPLETE SET OF SYSTEM ATTRIBUTES WILL BE CONSIDERED IN EVALUATIONS. BASED ON ENGINEERING ANALYSES, EACH DESIGN WILL BE RANKED AND THE BEST CANDIDATE (OR CANDIDATES) SELECTED FOR DETAILED STUDY IN PHASE II. ALL POTENTIAL CONCEPTS WILL PROVIDE THE MARINE CORPS WITH THE DESIRED OPERATIONAL CAPABILITY. THE PHASE I EFFORT SERVES TO IDENTIFY THE MOST PROMISING DESIGN SOLUTION (OR SOLUTIONS) AND PROVIDES FOCUS FOR A MORE COMPREHENSIVE DESIGN STUDY IN PHASE II. THE PHASE II EFFORT WILL SUBSTANTIATE THE ANALYSES OF PHASE I, FURTHER INVESTIGATE THE REMAINING DESIGN SOLUTIONS, DETERMINE THE OPTIMUM DESIGN CONFIGURATION, AND THEN PROCEED WITH DETAILED DESIGN OF THE SYSTEM.