Welcome to flightglobal.com. This website uses cookies to improve your experience and for ads personalisation. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of these cookies. You can learn more about the cookies we use here.
By Ryan Finnerty 2022-07-18T12:23:00+01:00
Lockheed Martin thinks its vertical lift technology is uniquely suited to meet Europe’s future helicopter needs.
Speaking at the Farnborough air show, executives with Lockheed subsidiary Sikorsky pitched the Connecticut manufacturer’s X2 line of coaxial rotorcraft to European buyers.
The Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant, the third generation of Sikorsky’s X2 technology, first flew in 2019
“We are ready to promote this technology internationally,” said Luigi Piantodosi, director of future vertical lift international for Sikrosky on 18 July.
The X2 family of aircraft are centred on a coaxial, dual main rotor assembly coupled with a rear-mounted propeller for generating additional forward thrust.
With the latest X2 models reaching cruising speeds above 230kt (425km/h), Sikorsky argues that design is vastly superior in terms of speed and manoeuvrability to the conventional, single main rotor arrangement used by most utility lift helicopters.
“That is something you quite frankly cannot get from a single, main rotor,” says Jay Macklin, Sikorsky’s director of US Army future vertical lift programmes.
Macklin, a former army UH-60 Black Hawk pilot, argues that the ability to fly fast, at low altitude will be essential to ensuring survivability in a modern, contested environment, such as Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
The comments are aimed squarely at defence officials in six European countries, which in June announced a multi-national effort dubbed the Next Generation Rotorcraft (NGRC) project in which the participants will combine efforts to design and procure a new medium utility helicopter.
The programme envisions delivering the platform to the military forces of France, the UK, Italy, Germany, Greece and the Netherlands some time between 2035 and 2040, the estimated period in which those allies’ current medium-lift assets will reach the end of their lifecycle.
Lockheed and Sikorsky are currently pitching two of their X2 platforms, the DefiantX and RaiderX, as candidates for the US Army initiative to find new utility and scout helicopters, a programme known as Future Vertical Lift.
A decision in the army Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) competition to replace Sikorsky’s long-serving Black Hawk, is expected in the coming months.
Piantodosi says that while European customers are largely keeping quiet ahead of the FLRAA decision, which has pitted the Sikorsky-Boeing DefiantX against Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor, there is currently “huge interest” in X2 technology from Europe.
When asked if the Lockheed would pitch either its DefiantX FLRAA design or the smaller RaiderX scout airframe for NGRC, Piantodosi says its likely the ultimate submission will liekly be a third design “that sits somewhere in between” the two competitive prototypes built for the US Army.
Macklin agrees with that prediction, describing RaiderX and DefiantX as “bookends” to the current X2 line, with potential new airframes, tailored to meet different needs, falling in the middle.
The final design proposal will be determined by the still forthcoming requirements for the NGRC project.
Boeing sees global tensions aiding defence spending over the coming decade, as it plans to double down on its digital strategy.
Sikorsky is optimistic of the S-70M Black Hawk’s chances in the UK’s New Medium Helicopter requirement for 44 rotorcraft.
The US Air Force (USAF) has conducted the first live fire test of the AIM-120D3 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile) F3R.
French aerospace start-up Ascendance Flight Technologies has disclosed letters of intent for 245 examples of its proposed hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft, known as the Atea. The Atea is five-seat, low-carbon aircraft which will go into production in 2025. Ascendance says the tentative agreements have come from six operators in the USA, ...
Embraer’s re-engined E195-E2 twinjet has become the largest aircraft to touch down at London City airport, ahead of steep-approach certification towards the end of this year. The E195-E2 (PR-ZIQ) carried out the landing on runway 09 shortly before 11:00 on 22 July, having arrived from Farnborough where it had been ...
Among the design considerations for the Airbus A350 freighter is virtual elimination of the risk of ‘tail-tipping’ while the aircraft is parked. Tail-tipping is typically the consequence of a loading or unloading error on aircraft, either passenger or freighter, which creates sufficient aft shift in the centre-of-gravity to cause the ...
FlightGlobal is the global aviation community’s primary source of news, data, insight, knowledge and expertise. We provide news, data, analytics and advisory services to connect the aviation community globally and help organisations shape their business strategies, identify new opportunities and make better decisions faster.
Site powered by Webvision Cloud