Sikorsky proves out ‘rotor blown wing' drone

Yahoo

10-03-2025

Through extensive flight tests earlier this year, Lockheed Martin's Sikorsky has proven the capability of a 'rotor blown wing' unmanned aircraft system that can fly like a helicopter or an airplane, the company announced Monday.
The drone is a 115-pound, battery-powered twin prop-rotor aircraft that the company said can be scaled larger, 'requiring hybrid-electric propulsion.'
The company designed the vertical take-off and landing aircraft to 'fly faster and farther than traditional helicopters,' Rich Benton, Sikorsky's vice president and general manager, said in a statement.
The drone development took place over the course of a year with the company's rapid prototyping group – Sikorsky Innovations — moving through preliminary design, simulation and tethered and untethered flight.
In January 2025, Sikorsky Innovations successfully completed more than 40 take-offs and landings with the 10.3-ft composite wingspan aircraft, according to the statement. Sikorsky said the aircraft also performed 30 transitions between helicopter and airplane modes, calling it the 'most complex maneuver demanded of the design.'
The drone also reached a top cruise speed of 86 knots.
'Our rotor blown wing has demonstrated the control power and unique handling qualities necessary to transition repeatedly and predictably from a hover to high-speed wing-borne cruise flight, and back again,' Igor Cherepinsky, Sikorsky Innovations director, said. 'New control laws were required for this transition maneuver to work seamlessly and efficiently. The data indicates we can operate from pitching ships decks and unprepared ground when scaled to much larger sizes.'
The company envisions future applications for the aircraft in search and rescue, firefighting monitoring, humanitarian response efforts and pipeline surveillance, the statement notes.
Larger versions could perform long-range intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and manned-unmanned teaming.
Sikorsky will incorporate its MATRIX flight autonomy system in all variants of the drone, according the statement.
The company is also developing a 1.2-megawatt hybrid-electric tilt wing demonstrator called HEX that is large enough to carry passengers or cargo on longer-haul flights.
Sikorsky plans to demonstrate HEX's hover capability in 2027.
Sikorsky's technological advancements over the last year come on the heels of the U.S. Army's abrupt cancellation of its Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft, or FARA. The company was competing for the program with a coaxial rotor blade aircraft called Raider X.
The company had, over a year prior to the cancellation, lost the Army's other future aircraft competition to Bell. Sikorsky and its Boeing teammate had submitted another larger version of Raider X called Defiant.
Since then, Sikorsky hasn't scrapped the promise of its X2 coaxial helicopter technology and continues to pitch it to other potential customers. The company is pursuing a next-generation helicopter for Italy and the NATO Next-Generation Rotorcraft Capability, among others. Lockheed, Airbus and Leonardo were awarded contracts in July 2024 to help NATO develop a new helicopter.