Following our coverage last month of Bell’s 360 Invictus offering for the US Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft programme, Khalem Chapman details the platform’s competitive rival, which comes in the form of Sikorsky’s Raider X light attack/scout helicopter.
As a bona fide long-term supplier of rotorcraft to the US military, it was no surprise that Sikorsky – now a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin – would inevitably throw its hat into the ring for the US Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) programme. To recap, the FARA project is part of the US Army’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) portfolio and is a competitive effort that aims to source a replacement for the service’s now-retired fleet of Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior light attack/scout helicopters. The Army’s Futures Command, along with its subordinate Combat Capabilities Development Command, are responsible for the overall programme.
Sikorsky’s Raider X offering was officially presented as a candidate for the effort during the annual meeting of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) on October 14, 2019. This compound coaxial helicopter is actually a further development of the firm’s S-97 Raider demonstrator, which is itself based on the technology …
