Quote:
Originally Posted by steel shark
Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH
DASH was a major part of the United States Navy's Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) program of the late 1950s. FRAM was started because the Soviet Union was building submarines faster than the US could build anti-submarine frigates. Instead of building frigates, the FRAM upgrade series allowed the US to rapidly update by converting older ships that were less useful in modern naval combat. The navy could upgrade the sonar on World War II-era destroyers but needed a stand-off weapon to attack at the perimeter of the sonar's range. The old destroyers had little room for add-ons such as a full flight deck. The original DASH concept was a light drone helicopter that could release a nuclear depth charge or torpedoes. The aircraft was considered expendable.
The manned Gyrodyne Rotorcycle program of the mid-1950s provided prototype work for the DASH, and ultimately the Rotorcycle was modified to produce the initial drone version, the DSN-1/QH-50A The DSN-1 was powered by a Porsche YO-95-6 72 hp piston engine and carried one Mark 43 homing torpedo. The next developmental version was the DSN-2/QH-50B that was powered by two Porsche YO-95-6 engines and also carried a single Mk 43. Serial production of the DASH began with the third version, the DSN-3/QH-50C, in which a 255 hp (190 kW) Boeing T50-4 turboshaft engine replaced the piston engine and the payload was increased to two Mark 44 torpedoes. Later On this was Changed to one single Mark 46 Torpedo A total of 378 QH-50Cs were produced before production ended in January 1966.
This Drone has Been Added To DotMod To add extra anti-submarine capability's for vessels that cannot operate full sized Helicopters.
p.s this is new so bear with us as we add it.
Steel Shark
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As a contribution to your theme, the FRAM (Fleet Modernization and Rehabilitation Program) reached surface vessels, submarines and aircraft. FRAM for submarines was based on the technical characteristics of German vessels caught at the end of WWII. The U-boats type VII and XXI, had important technical advances such as the "snorkel", which jumped an important tactical advantage. This program was closely related to the GUPPY (Great Underwater Propulsion Power) program, which began in 1947 with the conversion to the new standard, of several units of the "Gato", "Balao","Tench" and "Fleet" Class.Grettings!!! .Marcelo
