Despite COVID-19, the SB>1 Defiant team is testing furiously to catch up with archrival Bell’s V-280 tiltrotor, which has almost 10 times as many flight hours.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.MQ-9B: A proven multi-mission, multi-domain UAS scaled to protect Europe and beyond
Flying MQ-9B in place of larger maritime patrol aircraft costs less and extends the sensing and endurance possible alongside those high-value platforms.
Congress stopped the US Army from cancelling advanced procurement, while Germany, Israel, and the UK are all potential purchasers – but none has signed a production contract yet.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The Army wants to keep its options open on upgrading its heaviest cargo helicopter. Boeing is worried the window of opportunity — and its factory — will close before the Army makes up its mind.
By Paul McLeary
The Sikorsky-Boeing super-copter has just over an hour of flight time, but the Army says it has all the data it needs to accelerate the program. How?
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
While Bell’s rival V-280 uses tiltrotor technology, proven in widespread service on the V-22 Osprey since 2007, the Defiant uses Sikorsky’s revolutionary compound helicopter technology, which promises superior agility — but which has only actually flown in two experimental aircraft, the X2 and S-97 Raider, both of which are much smaller than Defiant.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. Sikorsky and Boeing are saying that their aircraft is taking longer than Bell’s because their design is more inventive — harder, riskier, and more time-consuming, yes, but ultimately better. In particular, while the SB>1 looks like it’ll be a little slower than the V-280, going by the companies’ projections for top speed, Sikorsky and Boeing say their machine will be much more maneuverable.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
