AAAA 2010: Sikorsky unveils contender for army scout helicopter programme

Sikorsky has broken cover on the US Army’s Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) programme, publicly unveiling its Light Tactical Helicopter (LTH) contender, which is based on the X2 technology demonstrator.

At the Army Aviation Association of America (AAAA) annual convention in Fort Worth, Texas, the company display a mock-up of the X2 Technology LTH which is the basis for one of the company’s pitches for the AAS programme.

Speaking to reporters on 16 April, Sikorsky programme manager James Kagdis said the aircraft’s counter-rotating coaxial design and auxiliary propulsion system offered significant improvements in ‘high-hot’ performance, speed and survivability.

With the US Army in the midst of the analysis of alternatives (AoA) process for AAS, Sikorsky formally submitted data on the X2 LTH as part of a 17 March request for information (RFI).

The first phase of the AoA is expected to be completed by the end of April, when the army will decide whether to pursue a manned or unmanned solution – or combination of the two.

The second phase, which will be completed by 2011, will determine whether to pursue a new aircraft such as the X2 or go with an existing in-production aircraft.

The X2, which is being funding solely by the company, is expected to achieve its target speed of 250 knots during flight tests as Sikorsky’s West Palm Beach facility in mid-2010. Kagdis said the company was comfortable the design was mature enough to be a viable contender for AAS.

‘From a timing standpoint because of where we are standing with the X2 technology demonstrator we believe the capabilities of the aircraft will be validated by the time the army comes to make a decision,’ Kagdis said.

In addition, Kagdis said the company had submitted conventional helicopter designs for the recent RFI, including the X1, which can trace its heritage back to the cancelled RAH-66 Comanche programme, leveraging a number of technologies from that aircraft.

Meanwhile the company is planning to test an autonomously piloted Black Hawk helicopter in mid-2010.

Led by Sikorsky Innovations, the company’s technology organisation, the tests will see the test Black Hawk ‘optically tethered’ to the lead helicopter to demonstrate the feasibility of introducing an optionally piloted aircraft by 2015.