Posted on 02/23/2020 5:11:17 PM PST by Blood of Tyrants
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida -- In a demonstration Thursday for the U.S. Army's top civilian official, a Sikorsky-Boeing team flew experimental helicopter prototypes that could one day become the service's next scout and assault rotorcraft under the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program.
The SB-1 Defiant helicopter prototype performed a series of aerial maneuvers to show off its unique X2 technology, which features a coaxial rotor blade system and a large propeller in the tail section of the aircraft designed to aid in forward thrust.
This was the first flight demonstration of the Defiant for Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois -- a former Army UH-60 Black Hawk pilot who was shot down in Iraq -- also attended the demonstration.
Sikorsky, part of Lockheed Martin Corp., and Boeing Co. built the Defiant after the Army awarded the team a contract in 2014 as part of the Joint Multi Role Technology Demonstrator (JMRT-D) program
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
Like the Russians use on the Kamans.
Sorry, that’s Kamovs not Kamans.
The same Boeing of 737 Max fame?
Same parent company. Completely different division.
I wonder how loud that thing is.
It’s fast. Very fast.
Man check out that tail rotor. looks like a propeller.
Civilian version available?
For those evil billionaires of course....
It is a pusher prop. No tail rotor needed because the counter-rotating lift rotors cancel out the engine torque that necessitates a tail rotor.
That’s Boeing-Vertol of Chinook fame.
That’s because it is a pusher prop. A counter balancing tail rotor is used to cancel out the spin imparted to the airframe from the rotors. This version has two counter rotating rotors to cancel that spin.
Sure seems like a lot of moving parts to break...
Just saw it on a “Top Ten” helicopter show.
It’s controls are all computerized, like the F-117.
And it is fast, but “only” 40 or 50 mph more than the previous record holder, iirc.
Should be very maneuverable. Probable a lot of integrated computer controls though.
For military helicopters, 40-50 mph more is a bigger deal than with military airplanes.
I have had CH-47 Chinooks fly over me on a couple of occasions.
They have rotor blades that overlap a bit but are “meshed” so the blades are one above another by just a small percentage.
It was so loud I thought it might crack the windshield of my truck.
This one probably is not much better even with new technology/design.
.
My thought, as well.
Yes, it is. They claim +120 kts at 30% engine power.
"Dual Rotors"
Yeah but does it have a whisper mode?
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