The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky debut new helicopter concept
The future of attack reconnaissance helicopters may end up coming from Stratford if Lockheed Martin wins a competition in Washington, D.C.
The defense company and its Stratfordbased subsidiary Sikorsky debuted the Raider X helicopter concept as a bid for the U.S. Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft, or FARA, program.
The helicopter is one of a several ideas being judged for future production at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference.
“Raider X is the culmination of decades of development, and a testament to our innovation and passion for solving our customers’ needs,” said Sikorsky President Dan Schultz in a press release. “By leveraging the strength of the entire Lockheed Martin Corporation, we will deliver the only solution that gives the U.S. Army the superiority needed to meet its mission requirements.”
If chosen, the Raider X would be the newest addition to Lockheed’s X2 aircraft family, which specializes in Future Vertical Lift helicopters. The program is characterized, in part, by its use of two rotors mounted on top of each other and rear propellers that aid in high speed flight.
The concept is a scaled up and more advanced version of Sikorsky’s S97 Raider which has been flying since 2015. The Raider X is designed to fly faster than 280 miles an hour and higher than 9,000 feet.
“The Raider X converges everything we’ve learned in years of developing, testing and refining X2 Technology and delivers warfighters a dominant, survivable and intelligent system that will excel in tomorrow’s battlespace where aviation overmatch is critical,” said Frank St. John, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, in a press release.
The development of X2 Technology and the Raider program has been funded entirely by investments from Sikorsky, Lockheed Martin and industry partners, according to a press release.
Lockheed Martin is one of five companies — the others are Bell, Boeing, AVX Aircraft Co. partnered with L3 Communications Integrated Systems and Karem Aircraft — entering newly designed aircraft in the competition. According to a company spokeswoman, two teams will be chosen to build helicopter prototypes by 2023 and fly them in a headtohead competition.
National sources covering the AUSA conference reported that production decisions could happen in 2028.
The competition in many ways is part of the army’s decadeslong search for the next generation of attack reconnaissance helicopters to replace aging fleets of OH58 Kiowa’s, Black Hawks and other Vietnam Warera helicopters.
Sikorsky was part of the army’s first attempt to find a replacement. The company, along with Boeing, was awarded a contract to develop the RAH66 Comanche more than 25 years ago.