Replacing the Blackhawk?

[ace22]

one of 2 candidates to replace the blackhawk helicopter.

Sikorsky-Boeing Defiant X helicopter


Here's the Truly Beastly Helicopter That Might Replace the Black Hawk

 

[muddocktor]

Looks to me like either way they go, Lockheed Martin is winner, winner chicken dinner. The other candidate, the Bell V-280 Valor, is also being built in partnership with Lockheed Martin. Since these 2 partnerships were first conceived, United Technologies sold Sikorsky to LMCO.

The Valor looks to be a solid competitor to the Defiant. It's based off of Osprey type technology. The Valor also has a couple of years more testing on it too, since it first flew in 2017.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Blackhawks are in the range of 16 million dollars each + special features like the mid air refueling Seahawk. If this beast is 20 Million it's a bargain 25 million is probably a break even and anything more is Pork Barrel Spending!

My eldest son works for a company that refurbishes several models of Helicopters, Surplus Blackhawks are just starting to hit the secondary market. Not all US helicopters are allowed to be flown over US soil by civilians. That has nothing to do with armament, but has to do with "Title" paperwork, seems the government didn't want to pay the fees for a US airspace legal aircraft, so thousands of the aircraft can't be used in the US and are being sold over seas.

"Pesst, Hey bub, want to buy a used helicopter?"

BTW, the company my son works for developed a new rotor blade for the Blackhawk, just upgrading the blades will increase total performance (speed and fuel efficiency) by 35%. They have been Upgrading UH 53's this way for decades! 5 standard bladed are over a $ 1 Million, 5 new design is about 2 million, BUT they replace them every so many hours anyway, why not get the up grade for the standard and save the huge bucks for Special opps?

And where does this leave the Osprey?

Ivan

 

[ContinentalOp]

I dunno...

I'd still like to see this one adopted...

 

[Bajadoc]

I panicked for a moment thinking you were talking about the Ruger Blackhawk. Never mind.

 

[Rudi]

Very cool machines!

 

[fordson]

Sorry guys, but this is a HELICOPTER. Everything else are wannabes.

 

[Absalom]

Following this occasionally in aviation/defense related publications, I’ve found it interesting to see how far both design teams, for the compound helo and the tilt-rotor aircraft, have managed to bring up the capabilities to narrow the respective disadvantage gap.

The tilt rotor’s advantage was always speed, the compound helo’s the hover efficiency and maneuverability.

Neither will ever get as good as the other, but the relative differences in these and other lesser criteria are down to such narrow margins that the Army has an interesting choice to make, but can’t make a really bad one.

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out if I’m around that long. First aircraft are not expected to be in regular service until 2030 or so.

 

[Golddollar]

I dunno...

I'd still like to see this one adopted...

And hire Jan-Michael Vincent as an instructor and play techno music while in flight.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Well, at least the CH-53K has been progressing through it's milestones, and looks fit to take it's place as the "King" of heavy lift.

 

[ameridaddy]

...

And where does this leave the Osprey?

Ivan

A pilot killer. If something goes wrong in the transition from level to hover, there's no glide and no autorotate capability.

 

[Puller]

And hire Jan-Michael Vincent as an instructor and play techno music while in flight.

Poor guy died in 2019 a one legged boozer, doper, and abuser of women. What a waste.