Plan To Increase Speed In 20- To 40-Knot Increments

After three successful test flights, the SB>1 Defiant has been on the ground as the Boeing and Sikorsky team gathers more data on the helicopter's propulsion system. The two companies are "making tweaks" in an effort to expand the aircraft's flight envelope.

The Drive reports that Chris Van Buiten, vice president of Innovation at Sikorsky, said during a media availability in West Palm Beach, FL last Monday  that the "PSTB [propulsion system test bed] is running with some modifications and we're about to restart the flight tests and, you know, we hope to march right through the speed points and you know, you've seen it in the past. We moved the speed out [in] 20-, 40-knot increments."

The SB>1 Defiant is Boeing and Sikorsky's candidate for the Army's Future Vertical Lift program. Van Buiten said during the news conference that they expect to expand the envelope in flight tests "with additional speed and maneuverability" over the summer in order to "provide the U.S. Army with the necessary, robust, and relevant data in a timely manner that will enable them to make fully informed decisions as they pursue the Future Vertical Lift program."

The Army is expected to make a selection in the FVL program at the end of this year.

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report