Sikorsky developing hybrid-electric aircraft for advanced air mobility sector

Stratford-based Sikorsky Aircraft is developing a hybrid-electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft demonstrator vehicle in its first step to become part of the advanced air mobility (AAM) sector.

According to a report by the aviation industry trade journal Vertical, the Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft (SARA) is a reconfigured S-76B that the company is deploying for tests and experiments related to its proprietary Matrix technology. According to Igor Cherepinsky, director of Sikorsky Innovations, the new vehicle is “our first foray into what the next generation of commercial aircraft will look like.”

Cherepinsky added the goal in developing this aircraft will be “an electric propulsion system for both commercial and military applications … The crux is that the workload is much lower and the machine understands a lot of the basic flying and basic mission parameters,” he said. “The aircraft can avoid obstacles, and it can pick landing zones. If you think about the commercial space, AAM is also in our sights.”

Cherepinksy said the company, a Lockheed Martin subsidiary, plans to have the vehicle in commercial service in three to five years, with applications including “air taxis that are operated by you and me, not pilots.”