Shearwater Medium Lift Helicopter

The GC-011 Shearwater Medium Lift Helicopter (General Cargo, Model of 2001, Serial 1) also known as the Type 03/12 Shirotaka is a FRAUT and Chiseian, designed by Federal Defence and Funmyō Aerospace. The vehicle was designed beginning in 1996 and entered service with the Federal Republic Air Force Command and the Chiseian Royal Air Force in 2001. Production of the Shearwater entered full rate in 1999 and so far 10,000 vehicles of all variants have been produced, with a total of 4,000 for the Federal Republic Air Command and 6,000 for the Chiseian Royal Air Force. Production ceased in April of 2008 of new air frames. The Shearwater has been used in the 2013 Masukan War and the 2015 Chiseian intervention in Jyugoku. The GC-011 has had numerous upgrades and modifications for various missions and modernization packages.

History
In the 1970s, reforms of the Federal Republic Air Command placed an increasing importance on helicopters. While the concept was already proven in other countries like Chisei, defence officials in the FRAUT were hesitant to pursue what seemed like a fragile and expensive proposition. However, the 1968 reform greatly reduced the need for super heavy bombers and other tactical air lift. Thus, the funds freed from this realignment were transferred to helicopters. The FRAUT introduced the GC-725 Provider Medium Helicopter in 1972, the first tactical helicopter. This helicopter proved to be extremely successful, leading to the first integration of the Land Force Command and Air Force Command to form an Air Assault Brigade. The Provider was modernized in 1987, but by the late 1980s the Provider was outclassed in all areas compared to rvials. In 1994, the Air Force Command became interested in a new, fully re-designed medium lift helicopter. Chisei had already begun an advanced medium lift program, based upon the existing Funmyō Type 03 Kurotaka airframe, and the FRAUT decided that a fully homogeneous design of comparable quality would be impossible with their current aerospace industry. So, a joint partnership for an advanced helicopter was signed in August of 1997, and development commenced immediately. The first flight occured November 6, 1999. It was type certified jointly in December of 1999, with deliveries beginning at the end of December 1999.

Design
The base fuselage of Shearwater differs from the older Kurotaka models mainly in size. To allow for heavy loads, high speeds and stability the overall profile of the helicopter is much larger than previous iterations. The fuselage is considerably wider than other comparable models, and the long tail provides very good in air stability. Older helicopters also incorporated local defense weapons into the cargo doors. This meant that the speed was greatly reduced, and disembarking was difficult. The Shearwater has dedicated local defense areas forward of the main cargo doors, which allows for greater weapons flexibility and allows higher speed flight while armed. The Shearwater can also incorporate stub-wing pylons for additional fuel, weaponry or sensors.

Weaponry
The GC-011 Shearwater can mount 2x M84 12.7mm Heavy Machineguns, 2x M450 7.2mm Medium Machineguns, or 2x M190 12.7mm Gatling Guns for local defense in the two side mounted local defense areas. The AC-012 can mount an additional M264 20mm nose-mounted auto-cannon.

Side mounted stub wings allow 4 Observer Mk 1/LR-4 Laser Guided Missiles or 2 Horizon 3 AA-7623 Air to Air Missiles. The side mounted sub wings can also mount a variety of sensor equipment.

Protection
The Shearwater incorporates an advanced electronic countermeasures package. This includes flares, chaff, local jamming to laser or wire guided threads, and an IR/laser lock warning system. While it is not considered a low signature aircraft, it does incorporate a thermal exhaust management system, to lower the signature of the aircraft to IR or "heat seeking" weapons.

Mobility
The Shearwater family is powered by the common KL T6900 GC Turbo-shaft Engine rated at 1,800 shaft horsepower, and two are fitted to each helicopter. An anti-torque rotor is also present at the end of the tail. The maximum speed of the Shearwater is 290kph without load and weaponry. 1,500l of onboard fuel allows for a maximum range of 2,200km, although this can be increased with additional fuel tanks on pylons.

Electronics
The Shearwater has both Very high frequency and Ultra high frequency radios for communicating with other aircraft and ground forces. It has a global positioning system, allowing for real time tracking of other friendly aircraft. The Shearwater has active radar and beacon systems for navigation. It is capable of receiving both commercial and secure military navigation IFR information.

The initial GC-011 featured a largely analogue cockpit with a first generation situational awareness monitor. The current GC-011A1 incorporates a glass cockpit with several mutli-function displays, realtime battle tracking and IFF info and Infa-red / thermal imaging.

GC-011A1 Shearwater General Cargo
The GC-011A1 is the medium lift, cargo only variant of the Shearwater Medium Lift family. The major external changes include a slightly lengthened fuselage allowing for a greater local defense position, and a revised thermally shielded exhaust. Inside, the GC-011A1 has a fully digitized cockpit enabling greater efficiency and situational awareness for the crew. As of 2012, all GC-011s have been upgraded to the A1 standard in the Federal Republic Air Force Command.