SB-1 Defiant reaches 205 knots during flight test

By Jaspreet Gill / June 16, 2020 at 2:58 PM

The Sikorsky-Boeing Future Long Range Assault Aircraft offering, the SB-1 Defiant, reached its fastest speed yet during a recent flight test, company officials said today.

The SB-1 Defiant, one of two FLRAA competitors, achieved 205 knots on June 9 at Sikorsky's flight test center in West Palm Beach, FL. The Army wants a final FLRAA contender to fly up to 250 knots.

"Exceeding 200 knots is significant also because it's beyond any conventional helicopter speed, and we understand that speed and low-level maneuverability is critical to the holistic survivability in the [Future Vertical Lift] environment," Jay Macklin, Sikorsky's business development director for FVL, told reporters during a June 16 roundtable.

The 23,000-pound helicopter is outfitted with a rear-mounted pusher propulsor and flew for the first time publicly in February, reaching a speed of 140 knots using less than 30% of engine power.

Bill Fell, lead pilot for the SB-1 Defiant, said the helicopter was able to reach 205 knots using less than 50% of the installed propulsor power. Fell added he expects the aircraft to exceed 250 knots "because we have a lot more prop power to apply to this machine."

The Army in March awarded Sikorsky-Boeing and Bell competitive demonstration and risk-reduction contracts through other transaction authority agreements for FLRAA. The CDRR phase will last two years, followed by a downselect to one vendor.

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