Sikorsky Aircraft has announced it will no longer take orders on its S-76 aircraft, citing low demand and high production costs.
According to a report in the aviation news site Vertical, the Stratford-based company only delivered on S-76 in 2021 to an Indian customer for use offshore. The aircraft was introduced in 1979 and more than 870 have been delivered worldwide. The most recent version, the S-76D, debuted in 2012.
Jason Lambert, Sikorsky”™s vice president of commercial and military systems, stated the company was “currently assessing partnerships with international companies” to license production of the medium type.
“The 76”™s safety record is incredibly strong,” said Lambert, “but the business case to be able to go put a crashworthy fuel system on that particular aircraft, frankly with the demand we were seeing, [we] didn”™t have the business case to be able to justify the investment. We know there”™s global customer demand for the platform, and so we”™re talking to international partners about licensing opportunities. We would license IP and we would provide technical assistance and support for that international party to do the production and manufacturing.”
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
