Sikorsky flies prototype in USAF program
For the first time on Friday, Sikorsky Aircraft flew a prototype helicopter that the U.S. Air Force plans to deploy globally to rescue downed pilots and in other missions over enemy territory.
The Sikorsky HH-60W is derived from the Stratfordbased manufacturer’s workhorse UH-60M Black Hawk design, with nearly double the fuel capacity, giving the new helicopter a far greater range.
The design also features better defensive and “vulnerability reduction” systems, according to Sikorsky.
On Friday, a Sikorsky pilot flew the new helicopter for more than an hour in West Palm Beach, Fla., with a second helicopter scheduled to go aloft this week, followed by two more this summer.
The Department of Defense is scheduled to decide later this summer whether to push ahead with broader production, with the possibility of more than 110 aircraft in the offing.
As of 18 months ago, the Air Force listed at $69.5 million the cost of each helicopter, which uses engines from the GE Aviation subsidiary of General Electric.
The HH-60W would replace Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters that are now tasked with combat search and rescue missions. The Air Force has struggled in recent years to maintain the minimum number of aircraft operational as flight hours mount, according to a 2018 review by the Government Accountability Office.
The Air Force has more than 65 Pave Hawks deployed with active-duty units, with more than 30 attached to Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units, including a half dozen stationed on Long Island.
Sikorsky won the contract in 2014 a year before United Technologies reached a $9 billion deal to sell the manufacturer to Lockheed Martin; and eight years after an initial contract award to Boeing that UTC challenged successfully, arguing that Sikorsky’s initial design submission offered greater operational savings.
The Air Force reopened the combat-rescue helicopter competition in 2012, with the contract valued at more than $8 billion if the Pentagon approves the full production run sought by the Air Force. Sikorsky has been manufacturing and assembling parts for the helicopter since June 2017.
Separately on Friday, the Pentagon approved the $1.1 billion purchase of a dozen Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion helicopters for the U.S. Marine Corps, with the possibility of Sikorsky producing as many as 200 of the helicopters designed to carry vehicles and other heavy loads in combat zones.