Sikorsky and Boeing presented the new Defiant X helicopter to compete in the U.S. Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) tender. The aircraft is based on their SB>1 Defiant compound helicopter.
The Defiant X should have double the speed and flight range of the UH-60. The venerable Black Hawk has a cruise speed of 150 knots (278 kilometers per hour) and a flight range of 600 miles (1,111 kilometers). It will be able to transport up to 12 armed soldiers or carry 1,800 kilograms of cargo.
The FLRAA competition is organized to find a successor to the legendary UH-60 Black Hawk, another aircraft of Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation that celebrated its 42nd year of service in the U.S. Army.
Sikorsky-Boeing’s entry will compete against Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor aircraft, a smaller cousin of the MV-22 Osprey already operating in the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy. On May 11, 2018, the hybrid aircraft has tilted its rotors horizontally for the first time.
