Special Ops helicopters get new technology

Special Ops helicopters get new technology

Released: Apr 27, 1998

by Capt. John Paradis
16th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs

CRESTVIEW, Fla. (AFNS) --The Air Force received the first production-modified MH-53J Pave Low III helicopter from Lockheed Martin Federal Systems at a ceremony here April 17.

The modification, called the Interactive Defensive Avionics System/Multi-Mission Advanced Tactical Terminal, or IDAS/MATT, provides aircrews with a new level of readiness and efficiency said Brig. Gen. Michael Wooley, Air Force Special Operations Command vice commander.

The helicopters of the 20th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla., will be the first to receive the new capability. Two prototype IDAS/MATT modified MH-53Js, are already in use by the 20th SOS.

A color, multifunctional, night-vision compatible digital map screen is the most visible hardware in the system. Located on the helicopter's instrument panel, the display gives an MH-53 crew a clearer picture of the battlefield. Crews have instant access to real time events, including the aircrew's flight route, man-made hazards such as power lines and even enemy threats that are "over-the-horizon."

Beamed from a satellite to the helicopter's computer and then decoded, the data from the screen provides a 3-D perspective of surrounding terrain, including contour lines and colorized elevation bands.

According to AFSOC officials, this gives crews near real-time intelligence data and reduces their workload.

"I can now see threats right in front of me, from towers and power lines to a surface-to-air-missile," said Lt. Col. Scott Schafer, an MH-53J Pave Low III pilot and chief of the aircraft acquisitions branch at Headquarters AFSOC.

Besides the map display a navigational display provides digital course and bearing information with the push of a button.

The heart of the system, advanced software, includes an integrated electronic warfare system. Infrared countermeasure controls, including missile warning, radar warning and jammer inputs as well as chaff and flare countermeasures, are on one display. Crews will receive instant cautions and advisories on threats with immediate recommendations, including when to dispense countermeasures.

"With IDAS/MATT, if the computer senses a threat, it will anticipate the threat with a direct action the crew can take," said Maj. Jeff Zak, MH-53J pilot and chief of AFSOC's rotary wing program. "It will read, `missile launch, break left now!'"

The entire system was designed with the crew member as a priority in consolidating a variety of functions, say Pave Low crews. Special attention was made to display visible instrument panel functions with easy console access while increasing the efficient flow of information.

"Everything is in the right place and easy to get to," said Zak.

In a battlefield situation, concise and near real-time information is perhaps an air crew's most reliable asset. With IDAS/MATT the probability of being detected by the enemy is greatly reduced.

"Harnessing instant access to the total battlefield picture, air crews will be more situationally aware and they'll be able to avoid enemy forces and detection," Wooley said. "This will increase overall mission success and the return of our nation's most valuable resource, the valiant folks who fly this aircraft."

AFSOC intends to eventually put the IDAS/MATT type of technology on all of its aircraft. The system can be readily transferred to other SOF platforms and is included in the basic design of the CV-22 Osprey, AFSOC's next generation of aircraft, said Zak.

The tilt-rotor CV-22 is expected to eventually replace the MH-53J, the MH-60G Pave Hawk as well as the MC-130 Combat Talon I.

"You don't want to go back to the other models after you've flown with the IDAS/MATT," said Staff Sgt. Jeff Franco, a 20th flight engineer who worked the initial integration of the system for the 20th's operational use.