Sikorsky will create a versatile high-speed helicopter
The American company Sikorsky decided to continue the evolution of its high-speed X2 helicopter by creating two prototypes of a multifunctional rotorcraft for the US Army. The new helicopter will be created specifically for the army's tender for the supply of light reconnaissance vehicles to replace the aging Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior. In this competition, Sikorsky will have to compete with Bell Helicopter and Eurocopter, which will offer modified versions of existing equipment.
Raider
Sikorsky announced plans to create a new high-speed helicopter on October 20, 2010. The new helicopter, dubbed the S-97 Raider, will be built on a coaxial rotor layout. The fuselage will be made according to the rotorcraft layout - small wings will partially create lift in flight. The latter will be equipped with pylons for suspended weapons.
According to Sikorsky's classification, the new vehicle will be a transport and attack helicopter, which can also be used for reconnaissance from the air, guarding other air vehicles (for example, the V-22 Osprey in the navy), emergency medical evacuation, transporting troops, striking targets enemy and fast transportation of goods. The S-97 will be capable of flying at a speed of 200 knots (370.4 kilometers per hour) with the possibility of a short-term increase in this figure to 220 knots. The first prototype of the new helicopter is expected to make its maiden flight in the next 50 months.
The S-97 will be powered by the T700 engines of the American company General Electric with a shaft power of 2,300 horsepower. Engines of this family are used today in many US military helicopters, including the Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow, Bell AH-1Z Viper, Bell UH-1Y Venom, NHI NH90, Sikorsky S-70C and Sikorsky S-92.
The S-97 is slated to build on the prototype X2 high-speed helicopter that Sikorsky is testing today. Part of the X2's technical characteristics in the new helicopter will be inherited. The high-speed Sikorsky helicopter is also built on a coaxial rotor arrangement, which have four blades and rotate in opposite directions. The X2 is equipped with a six-blade pusher propeller. All propellers are driven by a single motor through a complex transmission. According to Sikorsky's plans, the helicopter will be able to reach speeds of up to 260 knots and fly over distances of up to 1,300 kilometers.
Sikorsky plans to complete the preliminary design of the S-97 in 2011, although the mass-dimensional model of the promising machine was presented on October 20, 2011. The presented model has small wings protruding on the sides in the middle part of the fuselage and a far-apart tail unit. However, this version of the S-97 may not go into production. You can look at the proposed appearance of a promising helicopter in a video (file size about 50 megabytes) on the Sikorsky website.
Everything for the military
The S-97 Raider will initially be built for the US Army, which unveiled the Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) program in 2009. As part of this program, the military is looking for a replacement for the aging light reconnaissance helicopters Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior. The technical requirements for the new helicopter are still being worked out and are not fully known. The tender as such has not yet been announced. The tender for the supply of new helicopters is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2011. Currently in service with the US Army are 818 OH-58 Kiowa helicopters, 368 of which are OH-58D.
Several companies have already shown interest in the promising military tender, which will have to compete with Sikorsky. In particular, Bell Helicopter, the products of which the army men use today, announced their intention to go along the path of further improving the time-tested Kiowa Warrior. This helicopter is expected to receive new, more powerful Honeywell HTS900-2 engines, as well as possibly new propellers.
In turn, the European company Eurocopter has created a joint venture with Lockheed Martin to create a new AS645 Armed Scout helicopter based on the EC145 and AS645 Lacota. For the competition, Armed Scout is being developed under the index AAS-72X. The helicopter is expected to make its first flight in 2011. Presumably, the new vehicle will be able to reach speeds of up to 270 kilometers per hour, and its combat radius will be about 690 kilometers.
Currently, the creation of machines for the army tender is complicated by the fact that the detailed technical characteristics of the future helicopter have not been made public. It is only known that, according to the requirements of the US Army, the new machine will have to be able to fly and hover at an altitude of 1,800 meters at an ambient temperature of 35 degrees Celsius or higher with a payload of one ton. According to Eurocopter, Bell Helicopter and Sikorsky, their helicopters will be able to hover at this altitude and at this temperature.
At the same time, Sikorsky claims that the company's new helicopter will be able to hover at an altitude of 1.8 thousand meters, carrying six soldiers on board in full gear and a full set of suspended weapons. Moreover, if the Raider carries only weapons, then its hovering height can be up to three thousand meters. It should be noted that most single-rotor helicopters are not capable of hovering at one point at high air temperatures, which imposes certain restrictions on the use of military equipment in hot climates. The requirements of the US Army are developed based on the experience of using helicopter technology in Afghanistan.
It is very difficult to predict whose victory the US Army tender may end. On the one hand, the S-97 may be of interest to the military for its speed characteristics. In addition, the helicopter will be built using stealth technology and will have a low noise level. On the other hand, Sikorsky's competitors will offer for tender already existing and proven vehicles (OH-58D and AS645 are already entering service with the US Army), rather than revolutionary technical solutions. But even if the victory does not go to Sikorsky, tragedy will not happen - the company intends to offer the S-97 to the US Navy, the Marines and the Air Force. Someone will be interested.
