Defiant Helicopter Effortlessly Flies for Over 800 Miles, Leaves Florida for the 1st Time

Just two entries are competing for the title of the Army’s next helicopter, the Bell V-280 Valor, and the Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant. Because the latter is much more present, at least in official briefings of its exploits, we tend to like the Defiant more.

The helicopter is rapidly coming close to completing its first major test routines. We’ve already seen it navigating 60-degree banked turns, lifting heavy loads, and lurking in the trees. But now comes something even more important in the evolution of the machine: its first out-of-state flight, and a very long trip on its own.

As it was getting ready at the end of March to showcase the Defiant at the Army Aviation Association of America’s annual summit, the team behind the SB-1 decided to fly it from West Palm Beach, Florida, where it spent its entire life until now, all the way to Nashville, Tennessee. For a chopper, that is a distance of a little over 800 miles (1,287 km), the longest flight of the helicopter so far.

The flight was not non-stop, as the chopper stopped in Live Oak, Florida, and then Carrollton, Georgia, before reaching its final destination.

The exact numbers behind the flight are not public, but the machine’s makers do say the Defiant “used less than 50 percent of the engine power available and less than 50 percent of the propulsor torque” while in flight.

Constructed like no other helicopter in existence, with two counter-rotating blades on top and a vertical propeller at the rear, the Defiant is capable of reaching speeds of 282 mph (454 kph), which would make it “the fastest assault helicopter in history.”

At the time of writing, the targeted date for the FLRAA helicopters to enter service is the early 2030s.