PHOTOS BY SIKORSKY
Rises THE By Dan Reed I
S A BIRD IN HAND REALLY WORTH TWO in the bush? Sikorsky Helicopters and its parent, Lockheed Martin, certainly are betting that way. Tey’re wagering heavily that their 2010 Collier
Trophy–winning X2 rigid coaxial compound helicopter design, flying since May 2015 aboard their S-97 Raider
technology demonstrator, will be worth more to the US Army than two (actually up to five) other unconventional but not-yet-flying aircraft that competitors may offer the army.
30 ROTOR WINTER 2019
The Future of Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft
Te US Army, by far the world’s biggest operator of helicop- ters, has set up a preliminary competition aimed at deciding sometime next summer which technological paths it will compare between now and 2023. Tat is when it expects to decide what company will build the army’s next-generation future attack reconnaissance aircraft, and what technology that aircraft will feature.
Raider
Sikorsky is banking on its X2 technology to build a helicopter that is truly different.
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