Rotorcraft manufacturer Sikorsky is searching for new product lines to secure its future.
These appear likely to come in the form of novel aircraft designs and next-generation propulsion systems, which will take on increasing importance for Sikorsky as the US Army prepares to wind down purchases of the company’s marquee UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter in the coming years.
Sikorsky general manager Rich Benton, who took the helm of the Lockheed Martin unit in 2024, says hybrid-electric drivetrains, autonomous flight systems, and a new tiltwing concept known as the rotor-blown-wing are among Sikorsky’s most promising lines of effort.
“These are the technologies we think are going to be key to the future,” Benton tells FlightGlobal.
Notably, all three efforts represent modular capabilities adaptable to multiple aircraft types of various sizes and roles.
The tail-sitting rotor-blown-wing (RBW) design features two fixed rotors mounted forward of a single wing. It takes off vertically with lift from the propellers, with the entire aircraft body rotating forward for horizontal flight, rather than just the engine nacelles pivoting as with a tiltrotor.
While Sikorsky regularly flies a small, uncrewed RBW demonstrator, the company ultimately envisions at least four different models of the autonomous tiltwing concept. Two of those will fall into the Group 4 category of uncrewed aircraft, denoting a maximum take-off weight above 598kg (1,320lb) and an operating ceiling of up to 18,000ft.
Test flights for the Group 3 class of tiltwings are set to commence this month.
While the smaller RBW variants are intended for reconnaissance or light strike, larger models could be used for electronic warfare, deploying larger guided missiles, and transporting cargo or potentially even passengers.
Although the RBW is initially targeted for military roles, Sikorsky sees potential civil applications for the vertical take-off and landing concept, such as supporting offshore oil platforms or disaster response.
While it is pursuing the RBW as a standalone product, Sikorsky is also using the concept to prove out its other key technologies – hybrid-electric propulsion and autonomous flight.
“As we scale in size, we’re moving to hybrid-electric capability,” says Ramsey Bentley, director of advanced concepts and innovation at Sikorsky.
The retired US Army aviator says the hybrid-electric approach reduces a significant amount of weight by eliminating the transmissions and drivetrains needed for conventional rotorcraft.
Instead of transferring mechanical energy from a turboshaft to rotor blades, a hybrid-electric propulsion system uses a small fuel engine to power a generator, which then sends electrical power to the proprotor motors.
“We only have electrical wiring instead of transmissions and drivetrains,” Bentley says. “So it has a fewer failure points.”
This, he notes, also makes hybrid-electric rotorcraft easier and cheaper to maintain, even in an austere field environment.
All told, Benton says hybrid-electric propulsion offers the potential to improve the operating range of rotorcraft by 30%, while lowering operating costs through reduced fuel consumption and less frequent maintenance.
Benton says Sikorsky is “actively working” on a prototype to prove out the hybrid-electric propulsion concept, with plans in the works for a test flight.
“We’re building the demonstrator now,” he notes. “We’ll be flying it next year.”
Notably, Benton says the best opportunity to launch the new engine technology may be in the civil market, which has not been a major business focus for Sikorsky in recent years.
“We’re looking at potentially the civil market being the launch customer for hybrid-electric,” he reveals.
This could see a new aircraft reach the market in the 2030s. Benton says it could be either a tiltwing or a conventional single-main rotor design.
On the defence side, Bentley says Sikorsky has submitted RBW concepts to multiple potential customers, including overseas buyers, for both the smaller Group 3 class (25-598kg) and larger Group 4 designs.
At least one of those designs exceeds 907kg maximum take-off weight.
“We do have a design that’s in that class and we do have customer interest in developing that capability,” Bentley says.
He describes the RBW development programme as being in the “latter stages of envelope expansion”, now shifting into the development of tactical applications. Those will include what Bentley describes as “extremely low-altitude” flying and transitioning from horizontal to vertical flight mode to avoid threats.
The rotor-blown-wing operates using Sikorsky’s proprietary Matrix autonomous flight package, which has already proven the ability to control and manoeuvre a UH-60 Black Hawk in flight without any human input. The company has logged over 600 flight hours on its UH-60A Optionally Piloted Vehicle, a modified Black Hawk that allows for both fully uncrewed flight and conventional flight operations.
In addition to supporting advanced platforms, the technology could become a major business driver for Sikorsky with the legacy Black Hawk fleet.
The manufacturer’s existing contract with the US Army covers new Black Hawk deliveries for the USA and allies through 2027. In 2024 the service committed to expanding UH-60M buys, but a formal deal has yet to emerge.
Sikorsky has proposed an 11th multi-year production contract that would extend UH-60 production to 2032.
Regardless of when those new orders come to an end, the US Army still plans to operate its Black Hawks potentially until 2070. Modernising that fleet with Matrix technology could provide substantial revenue to Sikorsky’s H-60 programme, even if new deliveries slow down.
“The Black Hawk of tomorrow won’t be the Black Hawk of today,” Benton says.
Those new capabilities could include the delivery of air-launched UAVs and offering battlefield commanders the option to send a Black Hawk into harm’s way without personnel.
At a time when low-flying rotorcraft are more vulnerable than ever on the battlefield, Sikorsky is pitching the Pentagon on the concept of a fully-autonomous Black Hawk that can be used in conditions assessed as too dangerous for a crewed flight.
Such missions could include resupplying ground combat troops in unsecured areas or casualty evacuation under fire.
Sikorsky was awarded a $6 million grant from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 2024 to demonstrate the autonomous flight technology on a modern Black Hawk – dubbed the UH-60MX. The company will also showcase its older OPV UH-60A this year under a US Marine Corps contested logistics programme.
“The pitch is repurposing the assets that already exist and the logistics infrastructure and network that already exists,” Benton says.
Rival Airbus Helicopters is taking a similar approach, developing a modified version its H145-derived UH-72 Lakota light utility helicopter for use as a logistics platform.
While numerous small cargo UAVs have entered the market in recent years, Benton argues that none of them come close to the Black Hawk’s payload of 1,029kg internal load and 3,638kg for external sling loads.
Modifying even a portion of the US Army’s 2,300-strong UH-60 fleet with autonomous capability offers a significant prize for Sikorsky, in addition to the more conventional upgrades that will likely be needed to keep the Black Hawks flying for another three or four decades.
Benton also notes there has been strong demand for the UH-60 from abroad in recent years, noting Sikorsky exceeded its order cap on the 10th multi-year Black Hawk contract currently in place.
“We still think there is going to be a place for it for a long time,” he says. “The army’s mission may change, but if you look around the world, the Black Hawk is the ubiquitous utility helicopter.”
