New Army Timeline Calls For Demo Flights By April

A new timeline for demonstration flights of a follow-on aircraft to the Kiowa Warrior may come too early for Sikorsky to get its new Raider into the competition.

Sikorsky S-97

The Army announced at the Association of the United States Army conference in Washington, DC this week that it will consider either a continuation of the Warrior program, or will select an off-the-shelf aircraft that can be adapted to the Armed Aerial Scout program. Cuts in the defense budget were cited as the reason for the change.

The Hartford Courant reports that the decision could well leave Sikorsky on the outside looking in as the program moves forward. The S-97 Raider, which was developed using the company's X2 technology, is not far enough along in its development to make the new April demonstration deadline.

Teal Group analyst Richard Aboulafia told the paper that "the replacement for the Kiowa Warrior is likely to be the Kiowa Warrior." But he said that the decision does not mean the money spent on development of the X2 was wasted. He called development of the aircraft "what helicopter companies should be doing."

Reuters reported that the Army has now indicated that it won't be looking for a completely new helicopter until 2030.

FMI: www.ausa.org, www.sikorsky.com