Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. [UTX] and Boeing [BA] signed a teaming agreement Jan. 13 to submit a joint proposal in response to the Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the Army’s Joint Multi-Role (JMR) Technology Demonstrator (TD) Phase 1 program.
The Sikorsky and Boeing team plans to submit its proposal on or before the March 6 submission date, company officials said during a Jan. 18 teleconference. The two companies will compete against other interested parties to build and fly one or more demonstrator aircraft in the fourth quarter of 2017 that will be evaluated for next-generation vertical lift performance in a medium-lift-sized aircraft.
The BAA TD Phase 1, which will not extend past fiscal year 2019, has a value of $213 million to be split among all awardees. The initial design and risk review is expected in the third quarter of FY 2014.
Neither company would discuss potential configurations or what a demonstrator might look like, due to the competitive nature of the BAA, company officials said.
Those competitive reasons meant Sikorsky would not address one of the desired capabilities in the BAA: for the JMR to have the capability to fly at 230+ knots. In 2010 it was the Sikorsky X-2 demonstrator developed on Sikorsky’s own funds that broke the helicopter speed record at 259 knots using technologies that could lift future speeds even higher.
The BAA supports the Defense Department’s Future Vertical Lift program to deliver the next generation of vertical lift aircraft with greater performance, reliability and affordability, somewhere in the mid-2030s.
“Significant improvement in vertical lift, range, speed, payload, survivability, reliability, and reduced logistical footprint are all required to meet future needs and can only be achieved through the application of new technologies and designs,” the solicitation states. “Operational costs must be reduced to a fraction of those for the current fleet.”
For family of vertical lift aircraft to enter service 20 years and more in the future, the approach to technology will be “relying on the technical prowess of both companies and their ability to innovate over time,” said Sam Mehta, president of Sikorsky Military Systems.
“We’re not here discussing short-term collaboration. It’s a long-term collaboration,” he said, pointing to a company history of innovation and investing over the long term.
Mick Maurer, president of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., said: “The Sikorsky and Boeing team brings together exceptional technical expertise.”
Chris Chadwick, president of Boeing Military Aircraft, said: “Our teaming agreement is the continuation of a long-standing relationship between Boeing and Sikorsky and reflects a common vision for the future of Army aviation.”
Sikorsky has long collaborated with Boeing on other projects, Mehta said, pointing to a support effort for Black Hawk, Chinook and Kiowa Warrior helicopters for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. Another collaboration was on development of the eventually-terminated RAH-66 Comanche helicopter, which “very successfully brought many technologies to the fore and are now fused into the aircraft and rotorcraft of today.”
Leanne Caret, vice president of the Vertical Lift Division of Boeing Defense and Space, Boeing Military Aircraft, said the two companies “continually deliver complex and capable systems at record rates,” and invest in people, processes and tools, bringing results that will allow the team to deliver on the TD phase.