Sikorsky hybrid-electric VTOL demonstrator to inform future missions

Sikorsky Aircraft (Stratford, Conn., U.S.), a Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, Md., U.S.) company, is producing a hybrid-electric demonstrator (HEX), a fully-autonomous hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) prototype with a composite airframe. With a maximum gross weight of more than 7,000-pounds, the uncrewed aircraft will serve as a flying test bed to evaluate large aircraft design, novel propulsion systems and control architectures for sustained hover, and ranges greater than 500 nautical miles.

“As Sikorsky celebrates 100 years of flight innovations, it’s fitting to highlight our continued commitment to safe and sustainable transformative flight,” Paul Lemmo, Sikorsky president, says. “Sikorsky’s HEX aircraft will provide critical insights into the possibilities of electric systems in VTOL aircraft. Ultimately, we want to show the potential of large, advanced air mobility [AAM] vehicles to perform utility missions for the U.S. military and transport passengers between cities.”

For the HEX project, GE Aerospace (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.) will offer a CT7 turboshaft engine combined with a 1-megawatt-class generator and associated power electronics, building on hybrid-electric propulsion systems being developed by GE Aerospace for NASA and the U.S. Army.

The Sikorsky Innovations rapid prototyping group will lead the HEX program. Led by its director, Igor Cherepinsky, the Innovations team will design, build and integrate the HEX airframe and electric motors with the company’s MATRIX autonomy flight control system, which has demonstrated high flight reliability in low-altitude and obstacle-rich scenarios.

According to the company, depending on insights learned from the flight test program, and assessment of customer applications, the HEX program could lead to a family of eVTOL vehicles scaled to carry passengers and payload for military and commercial applications.