December 03, 2019 Volume 15 Issue 46
 

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Sikorsky unveils RAIDER X light-attack copter

Meet the future of vertical lift: RAIDER X.

Sikorsky's entry to the U.S. Army's Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program competition is a fast-flying, agile, and lethal compound coaxial helicopter that has been specifically designed for securing vertical lift dominance against evolving threats on the future battlefield.

Bell Textron and a partnership between AVX Aircraft and L3 Technologies have already released their two attack-copter prototype entries.

Scheduled for production in 2024, the FARA aircraft will be an advanced, lethal solution with high growth potential. The Army has named the FARA as a top modernization priority supported under the service's new Futures Command structure.

According to a U.S. Army March 27, 2019, article, "The Army's Future Vertical Lift Cross-Functional Team looks to award two vendors in March 2020."

"The Army has long needed a new reconnaissance aircraft," said Brig. Gen. Walter Rugen, the FVL Cross-Functional Team director, in the article. The article explains, "Back in 2012, the Army reassigned a portion of its AH-64 Apache fleet to support heavy attack reconnaissance squadrons, as a replacement for the OH-58 Kiowa."

According to the article, Rugen said, "This was a suboptimal solution. The Apache is an attack helicopter; it is not an armed reconnaissance helicopter. [At the time,] we did it for budget considerations."

The article also said that "after FARA is fielded, the Army plans to replace about 50 percent of its aging AH-64 fleet."

Airbus is also rumored to be putting together a FARA concept.

"RAIDER X converges everything we've learned in years of developing, testing, and refining X2 Technology and delivers warfighters a dominant, survivable, and intelligent system that will excel in tomorrow's battlespace where aviation overmatch is critical," said Frank St. John, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems (Lockheed is Sikorsky's parent company). "The X2 Technology family of aircraft is a low-risk solution and is scalable based on our customers' requirements."

RAIDER X can reach speeds of more than 250 knots (over 280 mph), almost double the speed of a conventional civilian helicopter, and is capable of flying in excess of 9,000 feet in 95 F heat. It can carry six troops and external weapons, and it aims to redefine helicopter flight during the 21st century.

Based on Sikorsky's Collier Award-winning X2 Technology, RAIDER incorporates the latest advances in fly-by-wire, flight controls, vehicle management systems, and systems integration. It also has retractable landing gear, active vibration control, a composite fuselage, active elevator and rudders, split torque transmission, and a rigid co-axial rotor system. These technologies enable the aircraft to operate at high speeds while maintaining the low-speed handling and maneuverability of conventional, single main-rotor helicopters.

At the heart of the design, the X2 co-axial rotor provides increased performance in the forms of highly responsive maneuverability, enhanced low-speed hover, off-axis hover, and level acceleration and braking. Low-speed and high-speed maneuver envelopes out to 60+ degrees angle of bank. Flight controls have been optimized to include enhanced vibration mitigation.

"The power of X2 is game-changing," said Sikorsky experimental test pilot Bill Fell, a retired Army pilot who has flown nearly every RAIDER test flight. "It combines the best elements of low-speed helicopter performance with the cruise performance of an airplane."


VIDEO: Sikorsky introduces RAIDER X.

Sikorsky also considers RAIDER X to be the out-front platform in the U.S. military's revolutionary approach for rapid development and delivery of next-gen technology and warfighter capabilities, equipped for the most demanding and contested environments.

State-of-the-art digital design and manufacturing is already in use on other Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky production programs such as the CH-53K, CH-148, and F-35, and will enable the Army to not only lower the acquisition cost, but enable rapid, affordable upgrades to stay ahead of evolving threats.

A major key to this is the adoption of modern open systems architecture (MOSA)-based avionics and mission systems, offering "plug-and-play" options for computing, sensors, survivability, and weapons, benefiting lethality and survivability, operational mission tailoring, and competitive acquisitions.

Sikorsky also focused on utilizing new technologies to shift from routine maintenance and inspections to self-monitoring and condition-based maintenance, which will increase aircraft availability, reduce the sustainment footprint, and enable flexible maintenance operating periods.

The X2 compound coaxial technology also provides potential for future technological growth for increased speed, combat radius, and payload.

When all these factors are combined, they enable RAIDER X to provide increased operational mission flexibility, including a broader range of aircraft configurations and loadouts to accommodate specific mission requirements.

Source: Lockheed Martin

Published December 2019

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