As the 17th annual event this year’s IMH conference shall address the central themes, balancing between the maritime and land domains. It offers an unparalleled platform for shaping future platform design, for preparing the war fighter for the demands of future airborne conflict, for learning lessons from recent deployments and for sustaining the platform across its life cycle.
With peer adversaries becoming an increasing threat to NATO and partner nations, the possibility of operating rotorcraft within contested airspace is at the forefront of the Armed Forces’ concerns. Future vertical lift platforms, including those currently being delivered, must consider the danger, seeking to advance speed, agility, lethality and protection, whilst militaries must equip their pre-existing aircraft to meet the threat. In addition, with many nations having smaller helicopter fleets than before, how can they maximise service mobility to ensure adequate utilisation, and how can specialist tasks be carried out correctly by multirole aircraft?
Military helicopter development shall be a key topic for military, government and industry leaders going into this coming year’s conference. Following the imminent decision on the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft for the US Future Vertical Lift programme, the international community shall be interested to see what is next for its integration and the lessons that could be learned for their own sovereign programmes. Furthermore, with programmes often being tri-service, this year’s conference must be balanced between the maritime and land domains.
