Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. and Boeing (NYSE: BA) will jointly develop a helicopter for the first phase of the U.S. Army’s joint multi-role technology demonstrator program.
The Sikorsky-Boeing team will continue its work to build the SB>1 Defiant medium-lift helicopter and configure it to Sikorsky’s X2 coaxial design, Sikorsky said Tuesday.
Both companies have schedule flight testing of the demonstrator technology to occur in 2017.
“Defiant will use Sikorsky’s proven X2 technology to overcome aircraft design challenges, which will be critical requirements on future vertical lift aircraft, †said Mick Maurer, Sikorsky president.
The team will work to incorporate counter-rotating rigid main rotor blades for vertical and forward flight, a pusher propeller for acceleration and deceleration and a fly-by-wire flight control system into the Defiant aircraft.
Sikorsky, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), and Boeing formed the team in January 2013.
