MD Helicopters Develop Configurable Avionics & Weapons System for AH530 Chopper

MD Helicopters has developed an avoics and weapons management system for its AH530 helicopters that will allow users to configure the chopper from a trainer to an attack helicopter in a matter of minutes.

MDH exhibited the AH530 Block II precision weapons helicopter with its new Advanced Integrated Avionics and Weapons System at the Army Aviation Mission Solutions Summit in Denver, CO.

The helicopter's versatile avionics and mission system enhance mission effectiveness and situational awareness, shaping the future of light combat rotorcraft.

“MDH’s new integrated avionics and weapons mission system for the TH/AH530 is the result of a collaboration between our ex-military pilots and the industries’ leading weapon systems manufacturers,” said MD Helicopters President and CEO Brad Pedersen. “Together we developed an easily reconfigurable system that drastically reduces the change-out time required to swap between mission requirements, including guided rockets and Hellfire laser-guided munitions. With one aircraft platform, you can go from a trainer to a precision weapon helicopter.”

The Hellfire-capable variant, dubbed the AH530 Block II-plus, is derived from the baseline Block II variant which was displayed with a new integrated avionics and weapons system at the Army Aviation Association of America summit. Reconfigurable between training and light combat roles, the TH/AH530 integrates Garmin and Howell avionics with a suite of guided and unguided weapons.

The baseline AH530 Block II features a Moog Weapon Stores Management System with the laser-guided BAE Systems-developed advanced precision kill weapons system–as configured for a batch of helicopters delivered to the Lebanese Armed Forces Air Force in 2021.

The Block II also includes a Moog Weapons Control Panel, an enhanced stores management computer and a laser arm panel. The suite is complemented by a Curtiss-Wright mission computer operating an L3 Harris ForceX Widow mission management system.The Hellfire-capable variant, dubbed the AH530 Block II-plus, features a new integrated avionics and weapons system.