Free Republic

The U.S. Army is the biggest operator of military helicopters in the world. However, all of its combat rotorcraft were developed during the Cold War, and despite upgrades are beginning to show their age. In fact, the Army's main reconnaissance ("scout") helicopter, the Kiowa Warrior, grew so decrepit after 16 years of fighting in Southwest Asia that they were retired despite the absence of a dedicated successor. Apache, the Army's preeminent tank-killer, will do double duty as an armed recon helicopter for the time being, but Army leaders admit lack of a next-generation recon helicopter is the gap in aviation...

Proposed Helicopter Would Replace MH-6/AH-6 Little Bird if Adopted. Lockheed Martin has released a new promotional video showing the S-97 Raider light tactical helicopter demonstrating many of its unique performance capabilities. The S-97 Raider, if adopted by the U.S. military, would replace the aging family of MH-6/AH-6 Little Bird helicopters widely used since the Vietnam conflict as special operations and observation/light attack helicopters. The MH-6/AH-6 family first flew in 1963 making it a legacy platform that has been continuously updated for expanded roles. Most airframes in U.S. service are now aging and, because a light tactical helicopter is subjected to...

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. on Friday flew for the first time its next-generation light-attack helicopter, the S-97 Raider. The test flight took place at the company’s developmental flight center in West Palm Beach, Florida. It comes as its parent company, United Technologies Corp., mulls a possible sale of the 90-year-old rotorcraft manufacturer. The chopper’s coaxial design features counter-rotating rotor blades and a push propeller, among other innovations, that will allow it to fly much faster and farther than today’s choppers. The Raider was initially designed to target a potentially $16 billion U.S. Army weapons acquisition program called the Armed Aerial Scout...

The S-97 Raider-Sikorsky new attack helicopter-is out and it is not only gorgeous. It's absolutely badass. It is based in the same technology as their X2 technology demonstrator, which broke the world helicopter speed record in 2010: 260 knots-that's 299.2mph vs the 172mph of conventional helicopters. According to Sikorsky's Mike Miller, it "is an all-new helicopter, all-new configuration. We haven't seen something this new in 30 years." The Raider uses counter-rotating rotor blades with a push propeller on the tail. This unique combination allows it to pulverize all speed records. Obviously, its weight is limited. This thing will not have...