Air and Sea Power
Passion and the courage to innovate lead to remarkable results
The future of rotary wing flight by Chris Van Buiten, Vice President, Sikorsky Innovations, Stratford, USA
When you lead an organization whose charter is the aggressive and sustained attack on the toughest problems in vertical lift flight, you know your outlook will be long-term. We at Sikorsky Aircraft ask ourselves, what we can do today to ensure a portfolio of competitive rotorcraft products and services in 2020 and 2030.
Find skilled people, and let them innovate Several years ago, Sikorsky brought together a small group of deep thinkers and talented engineers under the banner of Sikorsky Innovations with the aim of being intensely collaborative and agile. These attitudes drove our desire to design, build and fly a small next-generation fly-by-wire co-axial helicopter to 250 knots flight speed from vision to reality in just 43 months. The program proved the efficiency of the X2 co-axial design for just $50 million.
S-97 RAIDER rapid prototyping
Chris Van Buiten is the Vice President of Sikorsky Innovations at Sikorsky Aircraft, where he runs the group for maturing next-generation technologies, including X2 technology™, active rotor and autonomy, as well as defining next-generation products. He was a Glenn L. Martin Aerospace Scholar at the University of Maryland, where he received a Photo: private Bachelor of Science in Aerospace in 1989. He received a Master of Science in System Design and Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Sloan School of Business in 1999. In 1989 Chris Van Buiten joined Sikorsky, where he has served as Chief of Preliminary Design and Manager of Advanced Design and has led Sikorsky’s Strategic Planning Group.
metal or plastic to produce parts. A second technique, called Friction Stir Welding, combines frictional heat and pressure to join two metal surfaces. Yet another process seeks to develop simplified structures by eliminating fasteners, such as rivets and adhesives.
Since 2010, Sikorsky Innovations has carried the same collaborative model, again within a rapid prototyping construct, into a second X2-based project. By the end of 2014, our 35 industry team members will have designed, fabricated, assembled and flown the first of two 11,000-pound gross weight S-97 RAIDER™ light tactical helicopters. Currently in final assembly at Sikorsky’s West Palm Beach, Fla., facility, the aircraft will demonstrate the game-changing capabilities of an armed scout helicopter capable of carrying six troops and external weapons. The combination of counter-rotating main rotors and a push propeller will give RAIDER helicopters a full range of extraordinary agility and maneuverability with 3G turns at high speed, and hover capability at 10,000 feet in hot temperatures where most helicopters cannot operate.
Developments in the United States We are developing a third X2-based rotorcraft in the medium weight class for the US Army’s Joint Multi-Role (JMR) Technology Demonstrator program. JMR seeks to evaluate next-generation technologies for a Future Vertical Lift helicopter that will replace BLACK HAWK and Apache helicopters by the mid2030s. In October 2013, we and our partner Boeing signed a six-year investment agreement with the Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center. The SikorskyBoeing JMR team will make a significant investment to design, build, fly and test a technology demonstrator aircraft for its flight in 2017.
Cooperative R&D with Government
Autonomous and adaptive
In Poland, Sikorsky-owned PZL Mielec leads a consortium of manufacturers that is collaborating with the Polish Government to invest in innovative new manufacturing technologies. The goal is to design and build advanced composite and metallic aero structures in a multi-year research and development partnership that brings together industry and universities.
Speed is just one pillar of innovation for Sikorsky. We are also working to make aircraft more autonomous, and more aware and adaptive to their operational environment. What if a helicopter could transition between dual-pilot, single pilot and unmanned flight modes simply by turning a switch? Or if it could adapt the shape or speed of its rotor blades? We believe these features will appeal to operators looking for multi-mission versatility. Safety of flight is another pressing issue that we are addressing head on. In August 2013, Sikorsky Innovations unveiled a major research program — designated Matrix Technology™ —
Manufacturing technologies in Poland Among the manufacturing technologies supported by Sikorsky is Additive Manufacturing, a technique that progressively adds
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