Sikorsky, Boeing select Honeywell to supply FLRAA engine

By Evan Ochsner / February 10, 2022 at 1:46 PM

Honeywell will provide the engine for Boeing and Sikorsky's joint effort to replace the Black Hawk helicopter, the companies announced Thursday.

Boeing and Sikorsky selected Honeywell’s HTS7500 turboshaft engine to power their Defiant X helicopter, one of two contenders for the Army’s Future Long Range-Assault Aircraft.

“Honeywell is excited to be a part of Team DEFIANT and proud to play a part in the future of vertical lift for the U.S. Army,” Ricky Freeman, president, Defense & Space at Honeywell Aerospace, said in a statement. “We’re confident our HTS7500 engine on the DEFIANT X platform will provide the Army with an agile, fast and maneuverable platform that will help ensure overmatch capability in the future battlespace.”

In an announcement about the contract, Honeywell said the engine is the newest and most technologically advanced it produces. It is “structurally similar” to the T55-GA-714A engine used in Chinook helicopters, the release said, meaning maintenance could be simpler because mechanics will have some familiarity with the platform. The HTS7500 is 42% more powerful than the T55, according to Honeywell’s announcement.

Boeing and Sikorsky say the Defiant X can fly twice as far and twice as fast as the Black Hawk and has a similar footprint.

A Sikorsky executive earlier this week said the company planned to include autonomous flight software in its FLRAA design after the company successfully completed an autonomous flight of a Black Hawk.

The Army released requests for proposals for Defiant X and Bell’s V-280 Valor last summer. It is expected to select one of the companies for the contract by the end of the fiscal year.

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