Sikorsky has successfully flight-tested its “rotor blown wing” unmanned aerial system (UAS) with rotorcraft and fixed-wing platform characteristics.
The prototype is a twin prop-rotor and battery-powered drone weighing 115 pounds (52 kilograms) with a wingspan measuring 10 feet (3 meters) made from composite materials.
“Combining helicopter and airplane flight characteristics onto a flying wing reflects Sikorsky’s drive to innovate next-generation VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) UAS aircraft that can fly faster and farther than traditional helicopters,” said company VP and General Manager Rich Benton.
Able to take off from ships and areas without a traditional runway, it can perform a variety of missions, including search and rescue, firefighting monitoring, humanitarian response, and pipeline surveying.
As the next-gen autonomous UAS can also be scaled up to larger sizes requiring hybrid-electric propulsion, its capabilities extend to conducting long-range intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, as well as piloted drone teaming (crewed/uncrewed teaming) missions.
Sikorsky developed the VTOL drone in about a year, with a design made for reproducing the aircraft quickly and affordably.
Transition Maneuvers
More than 40 takeoffs and landings have been demonstrated by the rotor blown wing, displaying its ability to repeatedly and predictably transition “from a hover to high-speed wing-borne cruise flight, and back again,” said Sikorsky Innovations Director Igor Cherepinsky.
It sits on its tail to take off and land like a helicopter and transitions to a horizontal forward flight where it can cruise at a top speed of 86 knots (159 kilometers/98 miles per hour).
“New control laws were required for this transition maneuver to work seamlessly and efficiently. The data indicates we can operate from pitching ships decks and unprepared ground when scaled to much larger sizes,” Cherepinsky noted.
The rotor blown wing is part of Sikorsky’s future family of systems undergoing development, with all its variants incorporating the company’s Matrix flight autonomy system.
