Knocking Down the Bone Pile: Revamp Your Components with BGA Reballing
Global Sourcing Spotlight: Balancing Speed and Flexibility Without Sacrificing Control
SMT Perspectives & Prospects: Artificial Intelligence Part 6: Data Module 1
Sikorsky Flight-Tests Scalable ‘Rotor Blown Wing’ UAS For DARPA Project
May 27, 2024 | Lockheed MartinEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, is conducting flight tests to mature the control laws and aerodynamics of a novel vertical takeoff and landing uncrewed aerial system (VTOL / UAS). The flight tests are intended to prove the efficiency and scalability of a twin proprotor ‘rotor blown wing’ configuration that sits on its tail to take-off and land like a helicopter, and transitions easily to horizontal forward flight for long-endurance missions, such as intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting.
The ongoing flight tests support the Ancillary initiative by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which seeks to develop a Class 3 UAS VTOL X-Plane that can operate in most weather conditions from ship decks and unprepared surfaces without infrastructure. Sikorsky is one of several competitors down-selected to advance their UAS conceptual designs into the next development phase.
The term ‘rotor blown wing’ refers to the constant airflow from the proprotor wash across the wing. Sikorsky chose the design to reduce drag on the wing in hover mode and when transitioning to forward flight, and to increase cruise efficiencies and endurance.
The design is just one of the many ways Sikorsky is advancing 21st Century Security® technologies and innovations, said Igor Cherepinsky, director of rapid prototyping group Sikorsky Innovations.
“Flight tests are underway to verify our tail-sitting rotor blown wing UAS can launch and land vertically with high stability, and cruise efficiently on wing,” said Cherepinsky. “Key enablers to flight maneuverability, and future vehicle scalability, are our MATRIX autonomy flight control system, and an articulated rotor system similar to those in traditional helicopters.”
For the flight tests now underway, Sikorsky is flying a proof-of-concept vehicle powered by a battery. If selected to produce an air vehicle for a future ANCILLARY phase, Sikorsky plans to build a 300-pound hybrid-electric version to include a 60-pound ISR payload.
Sikorsky Innovations was formed in 2010 to overcome technological challenges to rotary wing speed, autonomy, and intelligence. Learn more about the engineering team’s achievements in speed and intelligence, and its current focus on electrification and VTOL UAS to support 21st Century Security® missions.
Share on:
Testimonial
"Our marketing partnership with I-Connect007 is already delivering. Just a day after our press release went live, we received a direct inquiry about our updated products!"
Rachael Temple - AlltematedSuggested Items
Defense Speak Interpreted: The Autonomous Plane Battle—Skyborg Vs. Loyal Wingman
10/07/2025 | Dennis Fritz -- Column: Defense Speak InterpretedI’m awaiting the updates for the U.S. Air Force's Skyborg and Loyal Wingman airborne driverless vehicles. As the hype of self-driving cars has given way to more mundane autonomous activities, so too has the hype of uncrewed planes given way to reality. In cars, the SAE International association classifies degrees of autonomy from 0 to 5, as do some defense aerospace applications of unmanned flight, which have been reduced to practice, while others remain under development.
New Frontier Aerospace and Air Force Institute of Technology Sign CRADA to Advance Hypersonic VTOL Aircraft
08/05/2025 | PR NewswireNew Frontier Aerospace (NFA) is excited to announce a Collaborative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) aimed at advancing an innovative rocket-powered hypersonic Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) aircraft.
Honeywell Advances Technology That Lets Fighter Pilots Breathe Easier for Peak Performance
08/04/2025 | HoneywellHoneywell has developed and launched a new technology that allows military pilots of high-performance fighter jets to breathe easier under extreme conditions.
ICEFlight to Accelerate Maturation of Cryogenic Technologies for Hydrogen-Powered Flight
05/27/2025 | GKN AerospaceGKN Aerospace is one of the project partners in ICEFlight (Innovative Cryogenic Electric Flight), a project aiming to contribute to the development of hydrogen-powered flight.
Vertical Aerospace Makes Aviation History with Piloted eVTOL Flight in Open Airspace
05/27/2025 | BUSINESS WIREVertical Aerospace, a global aerospace and technology company that is pioneering electric aviation, announced it has made European aviation history with the first-ever piloted wingborne flight of a winged electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in open airspace.