Change is most definitely afoot at Robinson Helicopter, driven by its new chief executive David Smith.
Appointed in late February, Smith – the first person from outside the Robinson family to lead the company – has spent the last eight months making those dull but necessary improvements to the helicopter maker’s team and structure.
There was also the small matter of April’s acquisition of light drone manufacturer Ascent Aerosystems, broadening Robinson’s portfolio beyond its family of light helicopters: the R22, R44 and R66.
Now with all the building blocks in place, Robinson’s attention is turning to those helicopters, working on multiple projects across its line-up – including the likely launch of an all-new helicopter at next year’s Verticon event in March.
“Our roadmap begins with a [launch] announcement,” says Smith. “For people to see our vision it can’t just be words, it has to be a product.”
As you might expect, Smith is reluctant to reveal much in way of detail about the new platform, but stresses it is a real programme, “not a concept vehicle”.
“We will be making things and putting them out to the market for people to vote with their money,” he adds.
As for the name, will Smith retain Robinson’s current two-digit convention? “88, I think, is a great number,” is all he offers.
Alongside the new helicopter, there are strong hints that Robinson will also debut significant upgrades to several of its existing models at Verticon.
With a focus on the new, of course, there are concerns about what happens to the firm’s existing products. Smith says he has had dealers ask him if Robinson is planning to axe the R22, for instance. “The answer is no, we aren’t. It is actually quite the opposite – we are investing in the R22 and we have exciting things in the works.”
Although not specific to the R22, the introduction of Ascent and its technology portfolio into the wider company has given Robinson another development opportunity to explore.
A next step will be to test the deployment of one of Ascent’s uncrewed air vehicles (UAVs) from a Robinson helicopter.
Smith says the use of uncrewed assets alongside its manned helicopter range will be a key enabler for operators – providing more surveillance capability at a relatively low cost.
While Ascent’s co-axial UAVs have been deployed from ground vehicles or fixed-wing aircraft, they have not previously been launched from a helicopter.
Smith says Robinson is “figuring out the launch parameters right now” ahead of a demonstration “in the very near future”.
That is likely to begin with a “live launch” and then move to sending a feed from the drone’s sensors to an observer aboard the helicopter.
It fits in with plans for Robinson to offer manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) capability on its helicopters, he says.
“We can do all this for an incredibly low total operating cost of the aircraft. We are going to really change the game in aerial search and rescue, aerial law enforcement, or aerial firefighting.”
Activities to develop the MUM-T capabilities are ongoing: “You’ll see those things take shape in the near-term,” says Smith, who promises to share more early next year.
He says Robinson has “active collaboration agreements” with leading “aviation AI swarm technologists that have demonstrated the building block pieces” for such a capability.
“That collaboration has been in active work and has demonstrated some really cool things,” he says, adding: “The initial implementation is very mature at this point.
“The hard part is finding applications and customers to try it out,” he says.
Despite the future plans, in the here and now, Smith’s focus remains on ensuring Robinson can achieve a production ramp-up across its range.
In March, he identified engine supply as a major brake on output increases. Those problems persist, but he says Rolls-Royce – whose M300 turboshaft powers the R66 – has “done a great job over the last month solving the supply chain disruption at their level”.
“We are finally getting the quantities and rate of engines that we need,” he says.
He sees a sustainable production target on the R66 of 200 units per year, which would help to bring lead-times down from their current highs.
“We have plenty of customers that want to buy more, but right now a lead time into the end of [20]25 or the beginning of ’26 is just too long.
“We are trying very hard to burn the backlog to where we get closer to a nine-month to 12-month lead time,” he adds.
For 2024, output on the R66 will be around 130-140 aircraft “depending on how many engines appear before Christmas”, while the R44 will end the year at around 170-180 deliveries and the R22 in the 25-30-unit range.
But following the addition of Ascent to the business, Robinson has also started building drones for its subsidiary at its facility in Torrance, California.
Output of the Spirit UAV is running at about four to five units per week and will be ramped up, says Smith, with the eventual aim of transferring all production from Ascent’s current Massachusetts base.
Paul Fermo, vice-president of business development at Ascent, says its acquisition by Robinson has been transformative for the company.
“It has made a tremendous difference, we get to leverage 50 years of institutional aviation manufacturing and production knowledge,” he says. “That’s been a huge asset.”
Robinson’s ability to manufacture at scale has also made an appreciable difference, says Fermo: “In a price-sensitive market that’s very helpful.”
Meanwhile, Ascent is eyeing the next product to complement its current Spirit and NX30 platforms, respectively 6.1kg (13.5lb) and 13kg maximum take-off weight drones.
“We have plans to scale-up [the design]. Our R&D roadmap foresees and even larger vehicle than the NX30 that is optimised for package and critical payload delivery,” he says.
Smith and Fermo spoke with FlightGlobal at the recent European Rotors show in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where they were jointly exhibiting.
