Photo: Collins Aerospace
Even if it’s not officially scheduled to enter service until the early years of the next decade, it would appear 2022 is the year that will make or break the Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant.
The Defiant is the two companies’ entry in the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program, an initiative of the U.S. Army meant to create, as the name says, the next-generation flying combat machines.
Coming into the world as a whole new breed of helicopter, with lift and motion ensured by two counter-rotating blades on top and a vertical propeller at the rear, the Defiant, for now known as the Defiant X, will be capable of traveling at speeds of up to 282 mph (454 kph), effectively becoming “the fastest assault helicopter in history.”
The way its propellers have been designed will allow for some extreme and seemingly unnatural maneuvers for a helicopter, including acceleration without tilting and deceleration without flaring. Its turn radius is also drastically reduced, with the Defiant needing just half the distance present-day helicopters need to turn.
Last week, we’ve learned of the Defiant X making its first long-range trip, flying from West Palm Beach, Florida, where it is being put together, all the way to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend the Army Aviation Association of America’s annual summit. The helicopter traveled for 800 miles (1,287 km) and stopped two times along the way.
But that's not the only recent news on the Defiant front. At the end of last month, somewhat under the radar, Collins Aerospace announced it was selected to supply the seats for all three platforms the Defiant will come in, but also the computer for the flight control and vehicle management.
The seats, designed to be lightweight and ergonomical, will also be armored and will serve the needs of the pilot, co-pilot, cabin crew, and whatever troops will happen to travel in them.
The computer is called Perigon, and it relies on 3 dissimilar, high-integrity multicore processor cards. It is capable of high-speed digital data transfer, cross-functionality, and 20 times the processing power of existing solutions made by the same company.
Collins did not disclose the value of the contract or the number of helicopters it should provide these parts for.
Coming into the world as a whole new breed of helicopter, with lift and motion ensured by two counter-rotating blades on top and a vertical propeller at the rear, the Defiant, for now known as the Defiant X, will be capable of traveling at speeds of up to 282 mph (454 kph), effectively becoming “the fastest assault helicopter in history.”
The way its propellers have been designed will allow for some extreme and seemingly unnatural maneuvers for a helicopter, including acceleration without tilting and deceleration without flaring. Its turn radius is also drastically reduced, with the Defiant needing just half the distance present-day helicopters need to turn.
Last week, we’ve learned of the Defiant X making its first long-range trip, flying from West Palm Beach, Florida, where it is being put together, all the way to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend the Army Aviation Association of America’s annual summit. The helicopter traveled for 800 miles (1,287 km) and stopped two times along the way.
But that's not the only recent news on the Defiant front. At the end of last month, somewhat under the radar, Collins Aerospace announced it was selected to supply the seats for all three platforms the Defiant will come in, but also the computer for the flight control and vehicle management.
The seats, designed to be lightweight and ergonomical, will also be armored and will serve the needs of the pilot, co-pilot, cabin crew, and whatever troops will happen to travel in them.
The computer is called Perigon, and it relies on 3 dissimilar, high-integrity multicore processor cards. It is capable of high-speed digital data transfer, cross-functionality, and 20 times the processing power of existing solutions made by the same company.
Collins did not disclose the value of the contract or the number of helicopters it should provide these parts for.
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