Seahawk Variant To Be Delivered In Q1 2009

Another week... another first flight for a new Sikorsky helicopter. The helomaker announced Monday it recently completed the first flight of a Naval Hawk S-70B helicopter. This initial helicopter was built at the Sikorsky HAWK WORKS at Schweizer Aircraft.

The aircraft -- a variant of the S-70 Seahawk line -- achieved first flight on August 28 and is expected to be delivered to an international military customer in the first quarter of 2009, after an engineering flight test program. The identity of the customer was not disclosed.

The MDCC, branded by Sikorsky as the HAWK WORKS, is the primary completion center for Sikorsky’s military helicopter derivatives. Helicopters requiring customized configurations for a range of specialized missions are completed at the MDCC facility. 

"This is a very exciting and busy time here," said HAWK WORKS General Manager Randy Simpson. "We have been eagerly awaiting our first flight and look forward to many more milestones here at the MDCC."

The MDCC is part of Schweizer Aircraft Corporation, which is a subsidiary of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. Construction of the MDCC started in November 2006,  and the first aircraft was inducted in October 2007. Currently the MDCC has S-70B helicopters, UH-60L helicopters and MH-60S helicopters on site.

Numerous programs are either in production or in the planning stages at the Schweizer location. This initial flight is the first of many scheduled to take place at the MDCC.

As ANN reported, Sikorsky recently marked the first flights of the company's X2 Technology Demonstrator and UH-60M Upgrade Black Hawk.

FMI: www.sikorsky.com