Last week Bell unveiled its 360 invictus high-speed armed scout helicopter
contender for the army's future armed reconnaissance aircraft tender and now
Sikorsky is firing back with its long-anticipated entrant, the Raider X.
The aircraft is based directly on its S-97 Raider demonstrator which
leverages the company's X2 compound helicopter technology to achieve very
high speed and maneuverability for a rotor craft.
The company's larger SB-1 defiant which is taking part in the joint
multirole technology demonstration program now and is likely to try to
capture the future vertical lift medium contract in the future, also uses
this unique configuration.
Sikorsky's X2 technology has been developed and funded internally for over a
decade. you can read all about it and the S-97 in this exclusive warzone
interview with the company's X2 team.
Bell is not sikorsky's only competitor for the farah contract, which is
slated to fill the void that the prematurely retired oh 58D Kiowa Warrior
left and also replace a number of AH-64 Apaches, in the decade to come.
The company which is now a subsidiary of lockheed martin is also facing off
against boeing avx and l3 and a powerful consortium that includes Karim,
Northrop Grumman and Raytheon. Boeing and the latter team have yet to show
off their Pharah Concepts.
Sikorsky says that their Raider X is the leader in the services
revolutionary approach for rapid development and delivery of game changing
technology and warfighter capabilities, equipped for the most demanding and
contested environments.
Raider X enables the reach, protection and lethality required to remain
victorious in future conflicts. With Raider X, Sikorsky introduces the
latest design in its X2 family of aircraft.
To date, X2 aircraft have achieved slash demonstrated. speeds in excess of
250 knots, high altitude operations in excess of 9000 feet, low speed and
high speed maneuver envelopes out to 60 plus degrees angle of bank ads 33B
or aeronautical design standard level one handling qualities with multiple
pilots, flight controls optimization and vibration mitigation.
Sikorsky experimental test pilot bill fell who has taken the radar on the
majority of its test flights, also stated the following about the X2
technology. The power of X2 is game-changing. It combines the best elements
of low-speed helicopter performance with the cruise performance of an
airplane.
Every flight we take in our S-97 raider today reduces risk and optimizes our
Pharah prototype raider x. the concept image of the radar X is very similar
to the S-97 but with a number of significant refinements. It appears that
some low observable considerations may have been driving factors of its
design.
The rendering shows a helicopter that is free of radar reflective components
bolted onto the airframe such as sensors, pylons, antennas or weapons. In
fact it looks as if its 20 millimeters cannon is concealed when not in use.
Its rotor head shrouds are also angled and it has a V-shaped inlet design
feeding a deeply buried gas turbine engine.
Its exhaust also appears to be buried inside its tail boom and it could even
use a similar cooling system as found on the company's lung defunct RAH-66
Comanche. The protruding contour soffit on the tail would point to this
feature.
On the comanche, the hot exhaust of the engine was mixed with cool air and
vented through this area. In addition the edges of its fuselage appear to
also be chimed like the comanche.
In fact the chine line is quite similar albeit less extreme. the airframe
also appears to be designed with continuously changing radius surfaces.
We must stress that these could also be features largely intended to make
the airframe as efficient and the helicopter as fast as possible and they
may just appear to share some tenets of low observable design. We have
reached out to Sikorsky for clarification on this.
Also remember that there are varying degrees of low observability and
reducing the aircraft's radar cross-section and infrared signature
significantly, while not going nearly as far as the comanche would still be
a major win in terms of survivability.
This is especially true considering that this machine will also have speed,
new situational awareness enhancing sensors and advanced defensive
countermeasures on its side when it comes to surviving over a modern
battlefield.
The Raider X with its coaxial compound configuration will certainly be a top
kinetic performer out of the Pharah contestants but even though sikorsky
really stresses that their X2 technology is low risk, that term is very
certainly subjective. It is true that the company has spent over a decade
developing the technology, but it has never been put into production and it
is substantially higher risk in nature than what bell is offering which is
really a conventional helicopter.
Considering its complexity, the Raider X could also come with a
significantly higher price tag although we really can't say that
definitively at this time. In a new era of advanced integrated air defense
systems networks and capable short-range air defense systems, it's already
questionable that any traditional helicopter can persistent over highly
contested territory and survive reliably in order to do it over and over
again.
Range is also an issue. in an age of anti-access area denial strategic
realities will the prospect of basing helicopter units within say 150 miles
of an objective area even be realistically possible in any way.
We will be talking more in depth about these issues in the near future but
with them in mind, range, speed and especially survivability should really
be placed above everything else if the pharah concept is even worth
investing billions into it all.
Otherwise it seems like something of a wasteful tribute to the days or
rotary wing warfare that seems to have already passed us by. The Raider X
could very well deliver in the speed, range and even in the survivability
department if it is indeed stealthy in nature and has the latest defensive
aids, sensors and weaponry.
If it doesn't, it will be a complex helicopter with some developmental risk
that may come in at a significantly higher price than some of its
competitors.
But once again even if something is cheaper is it worth really doing it at
all if it isn't survivable or even employable in a future higher end
conflict. We'll have to wait to answer these questions as far a progresses,
but for now we finally know exactly what sixorsky's offering will look like
and it is quite impressive.
