Case Study: U.S. Army achieves rapid CH-47 start-up and improved readiness with SS&C Blue Prism

CH-47 Helicopter Takes Off At the Flip of A Switch

The U.S. Army faced slow, manpower‑intensive CH‑47 start‑ups because crews had to hand‑pump hydraulic accumulators for 18–20 minutes before engine start. For this summary the vendor is listed as SS&C Blue Prism; the product/service used was the EPUSHA electric pump for utility system hydraulic accumulators (the system was developed and supplied by Eaton’s Aerospace Group).

SS&C Blue Prism helped deploy the EPUSHA solution, which lets one operator pressurize the accumulator with a toggle switch in under 1.5–2 minutes (about one‑tenth of the manual time), reduces required personnel from two to one, and can be used up to four times per battery charge before hand‑pumping is needed. The EPUSHA rollout improved safety, freed personnel for critical missions and increased CH‑47 readiness — the Army has made EPUSHA a condition of deployment across the CH‑47 fleet.

U.S. Army

Paul Phillips

Alabama Air National Guard