 
Test flights of an experimental helicopter by Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. took on new significance, after the U.S. Army indicated it could re-solicit bids for an armed reconnaissance helicopter after stripping Bell Helicopter of the $6 billion contract last year.
A Sikorsky win would have a major impact on the economy of Fairfield County, where Stratford-based Sikorsky has more than 9,000 employees while hiring throughout the recession. With military demand for its Black Hawk utility helicopter likely having peaked, new military programs represent Sikorsky”™s best shot at minimizing any future downsizing as a result of reduced Black Hawk demand.
Sikorsky has been testing a prototype helicopter called the X2 that features a set of stacked rotors and a tail propeller positioned like that on an airplane wing, in theory allowing the helicopter to attain speeds unmatched by today”™s helicopters.
The helicopter speed record has been held since 1986 by the Westland Lynx helicopter, produced by the predecessor company of European manufacturer AgustaWestland, which reached a speed of 249 miles per hour. According to the Palm Beach Post, Sikorsky will attempt to top that mark with the X2 at an unspecified date this year at its South Florida facility.
Sikorsky pitched the prototype at the Army Aviation Association of America”™s symposium early this month in Nashville, Tenn., terming it LTH for light tactical helicopter and attaching a mock cannon for full effect.
Dubbed Quad-A by some insiders, the Army Aviation Association of America is based in Monroe.
Sikorsky”™s director of advanced programs Jim Kagdis told Aviation Week that the company could produce the X-2 as an unmanned drone if the Army goes in that direction.
The Army is seeking a replacement for its aging OH-58 Kiowa helicopter, which is used as a spotter platform to assess troop movements, direct artillery fire and perform other surveillance needs. The helicopter is entering its 40th year in service this month, with more than 2,200 aircraft manufactured between 1969 and 1989 by the Bell Helicopter division of Providence, R.I.-based Textron Inc.
Sikorsky itself won the initial contract for a Kiowa replacement in partnership with Boeing Co., with the companies producing in 1996 a prototype RAH-66 Comanche helicopter, the Army won over in part by the prototype”™s stealth capabilities.
Despite nearly $7 billion invested in the program, the Army canceled the Comanche project in 2004 to save cash for maintaining its existing fleet of helicopters, a blow to Sikorsky and Boeing, which had envisioned producing as many as 1,300 aircraft.
Still needing an armed recon helicopter, the Pentagon requested a cheaper aircraft that could be derived from an existing helicopter already in use. Bell beat out Boeing with the ARH-70, developed from its Bell 407 commercial helicopter, but was unable to keep the project under the Pentagon”™s budget.
Both Sikorsky and Boeing are now eagerly eyeing the chance for redemption. At the same Quad-A symposium, Chicago-based Boeing Co. touted a derivation of its AH-6 Little Bird for the job, which has long been used by U.S. Special Forces, but which lost out in 2005 to Bell”™s ARH prototype.
Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed-Martin Corp. and European consortium EADS N.V. are planning to enter a version of their UH-72A light utility helicopter already in limited use today, which can carry armaments. And AgustaWestland reportedly will ready a bid as well.
Sikorsky is already developing a major military helicopter program, the CH-53K Super Stallion, which the Marine Corps wants for heavy-lift operations. The Pentagon could order as many as 225 of the helicopters ”“ provided Congress and the Obama administration maintain spending for the program amid cuts on others. Those cuts include the $15 billion search-and-rescue helicopter lost by Sikorsky in 2006 to Boeing, which, in turn, saw the program cut.
Sikorsky has excelled throughout the recession. It was the lone UTC division to increase sales in the first quarter from a year ago, to $1.3 billion, and reached a five-year labor pact while avoiding the strife of three years ago when Stratford workers walked off the job for six weeks, taking the manufacturer more than a year to resume normal operations.
Operational hiccups continue at Sikorsky ”“ in a conference call with analysts last month, the chief financial officer of Sikorsky parent United Technologies Corp. said Sikorsky needs to improve its inventory “turns” with excess inventory affecting UTC”™s bottom line.
“The challenge on Sikorsky ”¦ is they”™re going to see a 20-percent-plus increase in the top line, and that means more inventory,” said Greg Hayes, CFO of UTC. “I think the challenge for them is inventory turns have to improve. Inventory was up probably $250 million in the first quarter ”“ at Sikorsky that”™s half of the total inventory increase across UTC.”
