The Sikorsky-Boeing team announced on September 7 they submitted their Defiant X proposal for the US Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA).
Their FLRAA proposal, which constitutes the US Army’s future vertical lift (FVL) ecosystem alongside the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA), builds upon the SB>1 co-axial demonstrator.
Defiant X will feature an optionally piloted flight control system that will enable more reliable and safer operations in low altitude, obstacle-rich environments or in degraded, uncertain conditions.
“Continuing a 75-year partnership with the US Army, providing and sustaining the iconic Black Hawk, Chinook and Apache, the Sikorsky-Boeing team looks to the future with the Defiant X. Today, Team Defiant completed and submitted the proposal for the US Army’s FLRAA competition, offering low-risk, transformational capability that delivers on an Army critical modernization priority and advances the future of Army aviation,” Paul Lemmo, president, Sikorsky, and Mark Cherry, vice president and general manager, Vertical Lift, Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said.
The Sikorsky-Boeing team said it continues to conduct flight tests and expand SB>1 DEFIANT’s flight envelope. This test data is correlating the DEFIANT X virtual models and was included in their proposal to the US Army.
The Sikorsky-Boeing team will compete against Bell and its Valor prototype for a chance to deliver a Black Hawk successor to the Army. The winning FLRAA proposal is expected to be selected by the US Army by fiscal year 2030.
