Boeing-Sikorsky Submit Proposal for U.S. Army's FLRAA Helicopter Requirement

The Sikorsky-Boeing team submitted a proposal for DEFIANT X for the U.S. Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) today.

“DEFIANT X delivers speed where it matters, survivability, unsurpassed power, maneuverability, superior handling in any environment and lower lifecycle costs – while operating in the same footprint as the BLACK HAWK. We are confident that DEFIANT X, supported by our longstanding Army industrial base suppliers, is the best choice for delivering overmatch on the Multi-Domain Operational battlefield in INDOPACOM and across the globe,” the companies said in a joint statement.

DEFIANT X is developed from the SB>1 DEFIANT technology demonstrator. It will enable crews to fly low and fast through complex terrain, land quickly, deliver Soldiers and equipment to the objective area (referred to as "the X") and get out. It flies twice as far and fast as the venerable Black Hawk helicopter it is designed to replace.

The helicopter made its public debut on January 25 featuring changes to the outer mold line compared to the demonstrator airframe, such as a sharper nose cone; a tricycle-style landing gear; changes to the exhaust system and an integrated mission systems package.

The enhancements to the design are born from roughly 1,500 hours running algorithms in a systems integration lab, 135 hours logged in the Propulsion Systems Test Bed, and 31 flights, adding up to 26 hours of flight time.