Sikorsky [UTX] is using the successful demonstrations of its X-2 aircraft technologies as a departure point for its strategic view of future rotorcraft, officials said.
“A theme you’ll see from us is the linkage of that vehicle and the technology that is being enabled by that vehicle and the demonstration to where we believe it can be applied to future rotorcraft requirements going forward,” Scott Starrett, Sikorsky vice president, Government Business Development, said in an interview.
The company has the actual X2 demonstrator vehicle, which won the Collier award this year, on display here at the Association of the U.S. Army annual conference, as well as models of how that X2 technology could be applied across a variety of Army needs, from armed scout into medium utility attack.
Sikorsky funded 100 percent of the X2 and its technology development–$50 million over five-years.
“We saw the ability to bring technology to bear on really dealing with future requirements and needed capabilities and the gaps, for example, the Future Vertical Lift Consortium has identified as gaps as they look out into the future,” Starrett said. “It’s our thought on how we might help the military solve some of their needs and problems going forward. We’ve been encouraging the government when they’re making their investments to make them in those areas that will really make a difference going forward–as they look at what’s needed in the field 10-20-30 years from now.”
Internally, the company outlined key performance parameters (KPP) for X2 for such things as “speed, vibration, acoustics and maneuverability,” he said. They were proved out in the demonstration program. Another large part of the program was to bring the technology associated with doing those things to a level that is comfortable and supportable in future.
Another KPP was for all X2 technology to reach technical readiness level (TRL) 6, which was achieved.
“We believe X2 technology is scalable to any rotorcraft mission, Starrett said.
While X2 was a conceptual vehicle, the military prototype S-97 Raider will apply the technologies toward the armed scout mission so customers can and get a feel for what the vehicle could do for them in that mission, Starrett said.
For Raider, the company also is taking advantage of things done on the Hawk family and the 53K–the heavy lift Sikorsky is developing for the Marines–toward improving operability and survivability, fly-by-wire and what is being done on the commercial helicopter side.
People who have seen X2 fly were very impressed by its speed, which allows the aircraft to perform in a different way going forward than it has in the past, he said,
“This is way beyond PowerPoint,” he said, addressing a point the Program Executive Officer Aviation has made that he wants companies to “show” him a platform, not show him paper concepts. “Our technology and what we’re applying here are fielding not tomorrow, but in the not too distant future.”
What Sikorsky has done is very much the development and risk reduction phase of any aircraft development program, he said. If the company gets a chance to compete with Raider, a good deal of it will already have gone through the development process that the government would normally participate in and fund.
Steve Engebretson, Sikorsky’s director of Armed Aerial Scout program and Joint MultiRole helicopter lead, said: “We believe that what we are doing for Raider will meet most of those technology development requirements. We believe the technology we’re developing with X2 and through the S-97 Raider program give the government a significant head start.”
The company now plans to fly the first Raider in 2014.
“What we’re trying to do is link ourselves very tightly to the folks who are defining future requirements and expressing their operational needs and then using that to design and modify… of our aircraft to meet those needs,” Starrett said.
Engebretson said Sikorsky will build two military prototypes of the S-97 Raider program that was officially launched last October. The two air vehicle demonstrators will start flying in 2014, “with the intent to conduct customer demonstrations.”
“X2 technology provides a pretty revolutionary technology, and we believe enough in the technology that Sikorsky is investing their own money,” he said. While the X-2 program was 100 percent Sikorsky funded, the Raider program is going to be 75 percent Sikorsky funded and about 25 percent funded by industry partners.
Raider will be a 100 percent industry funded program “that we all believe in enough that we’re going to go out and demonstrate these capabilities and show what this can bring to military operations,” he said.
The Raider program recently completed preliminary design and is moving forward on the detailed design of the aircraft. The component fabrication will begin early next year and by early 2013 the first airframe will be in the company assembly facility being put together.
Raider aims at the armed aerial scout and Kiowa Warrior replacement program, because it seems to be the first opportunity for the next military rotorcraft program. However, Senate appropriators are reluctant to fund armed scout technical development program in if the fiscal year 2012 budget request (Defense Daily, Sept. 21). The service as well, has yet to complete an analysis of alternatives for the program.