Revealing the future attack helicopter model of the US Army

Boeing recently revealed a new attack helicopter that will reach speeds of up to 460km/h, nearly double that of existing helicopters.

According to Jane's Defence Weekly, the Boeing-Sikorsky consortium has revealed a future attack helicopter based on the SB>1 Defiant design to develop a multi-role helicopter for the US Army. On April 10, the manufacturer introduced a clip of an attack helicopter flying next to a conventional transport version. The aerodynamic design of the two versions is quite similar, they share many basic components.

The armed version has a glass cockpit with two pilots sitting in the front and rear. Under the nose is a weapon station, and the two side wings can be equipped with a variety of high-tech guided weapons, currently available or newly developed in the future. The SB>1 Defiant was developed based on the Sikorsky X-2 prototype. It uses a coaxial rotor with a rotor in the tail.

The SB>1 attack helicopter (front) in Boeing's introductory clip. Photo: Boeing

This design allows the helicopter to reach a fairly fast speed of about 460 km/h, almost twice that of existing helicopters. Detailed specifications of the new attack helicopter have not yet been revealed.

The US Department of Defense initiated the JMR-TD/FVL program to create a family of multi-purpose helicopters to replace existing helicopters. This family is divided into two branches, the FVL Medium (medium class) to replace the Apache attack helicopter and Black Hawk transport, and the FVL Heavy (heavy class) to replace the Chinook.

The Boeing-Sikorsky SB>1 Defiant and Bell V-280 Valor designs were selected in 2014. The first test flights of the two helicopters are expected to take place in late 2017.

According to Kienthuc