The aircraft, named the SB-1 Defiant, has completed mission profile test flights. The flights included confined area landings and low-level flight operations. These flights hope to validate Defiant’s relevancy to the US Army’s mission, providing agility at the objective and increased survivability while reducing pilot workload.

“We fully demonstrated Defiant’s ability to execute the FLRAA mission profile by flying 236 knots in level flight, then reducing thrust on the propulsor to rapidly decelerate as we approached the confined, and unimproved, landing zone,” said Bill Fell, Defiant chief flight test pilot at Sikorsky and a retired US Army Master aviator. “This type of level body deceleration allowed us to maintain situational awareness and view the landing zone throughout the approach and landing without the typical nose-up helicopter deceleration.However, it is worth noting that the Black Hawk helicopter, manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, has been a widely used and highly successful utility helicopter in military and civilian applications. Over the years, there have been discussions and programs aimed at developing successor platforms or modernizing the existing Black Hawk fleet.

The SB-1 during its mission profile test flights

He added: “This confined area was extremely tight, requiring us to delay descent until nearly over the landing spot, followed by a near-vertical drop. We landed Defiant precisely on the objective with little effort as we descended into this narrow hole while maintaining clearance on all sides.” SB-1 Defiant is the technology demonstrator proving out transformational capabilities for the Defiant X ωεɑρσռ system, the Sikorsky-Boeing team offering for the FLRAA competition as part of the service’s Future Vertical Lift programme.