Mary-Louise Hoffman
Lockheed Martin and its Sikorsky subsidiary are considering linking future helicopter offerings to the F-35 aircraft and other fighter jets, Defense One reported Wednesday.
Paul Lemmo, president of Sikorsky, said the military aircraft manufacturer will use a Black Hawk helicopter as a surrogate model for a proposed Army Future Vertical Lift vehicle and equip the platform with networking equipment to share data with an F-35 jet.
The Army’s FVL modernization effort comprises two industry competitions to succeed its aging OH-58 Kiowa Warrior and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.
Sikorsky proposed its compound coaxial aircraft concept, Raider X, to the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft program in October 2019 and teamed up with Boeing to offer the Defiant X design to the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft program.
Jim Taiclet, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin and a 2021 Wash100 Award winner, said at a Center for Strategic and International Studies forum that the company talks with leaders the semiconductor, cloud, mobile and network technology vendors over potential tie-ups.
