The US is spending $100 billion to develop helicopters to replace its Black Hawk fleet.
Defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Boeing have announced they are developing a high-speed helicopter called the SB-1 Defiant to compete with Bell Helicopters for the replacement of the U.S. military's Black Hawk fleet.
The Lockheed-Boeing prototype helicopter, scheduled for its maiden flight in 2017, features a futuristic coaxial rotor design, with one rotor positioned atop the other. It is one of two helicopter models ordered by the U.S. Army to replace the popular Black Hawk series.
The SB-1 Defiant faces a formidable challenge from Bell Helicopters, which is developing the V-280 Valor hybrid helicopter. The V-280 is a tiltrotor aircraft that can take off and land like a helicopter, but can also rotate its rotors to fly as fast as a fixed-wing aircraft. This aircraft is also expected to make its first flight in September 2017.
A model of the future SB-1 Defiant helicopter of the US Army.
In 2013, the U.S. Army authorized demonstrations of the SB-1 Defiant and V-280 Valor helicopter models after deciding to replace its entire helicopter fleet over the next decade.
The challenges of combat in the hot, sandy, and mountainous terrain of Iraq and Afghanistan exposed the limitations of the Black Hawk and AH-64 Apache helicopters, creating an urgent need to develop combat helicopters that could fly higher, faster, and farther, while carrying more weapons.
The competition between the SB-1 Defiant and the V-280 Valor is part of the U.S. Army's Future Vertical Lift Transport program, an effort to replace the entire Army helicopter fleet, including the Black Hawk, Apache, Chinook, and Kiowa helicopters.
The program to replace the entire U.S. Army helicopter fleet is expected to cost more than $100 billion.
Despite having launched the development of next-generation combat helicopters, the Army has announced it will not purchase new helicopters after 2030, citing significant budget cuts for procurement and modernization.
According to Anninhthudo
