Walkaround of Sikorsky’s Raider X Compound Helicopter for US Army's FARA Contract at AUSA 21

Bill Fell, the principle test pilot at Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky unit, with a walkaround of the company’s Raider X compound helicopter at the Association of the United States Army’s 2021 conference and tradeshow in Washington, DC. The novel aircraft, with two coaxial rotor blades and a single pusher propeller, is competing for the US Army’s Future Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft contract.

[@brianmoore1164]

Love this aircraft and love how the technology is scalable. The Raider, the Defiant, and who knows where it could go.

[@lukasnazare1693]

The Leviathan next...😏

[@gurugo666]

Mi 6

[@user-pq4by2rq9y]

Not really that scalable. Those fixed rotors create a lot of vibration. The raider can get away with it because it only has to deal with one engine. The defiant destroys its transmission and anything bigger would be a death trap. Who knows if Sikorsky can fix it but I wouldn’t make that bet.

[@brianmoore1164]

@n I would be interested in a source for that information. Lockheed says that new material science and computing power have beaten the vibration. Fifty years ago, the Cheyenne had vibration problems, but material science and computing power have changed a bit since then.

[@anonymoose1898]

Where it could go? Same as usual... more dead people, more control for bankers, more money to Murder Inc.

[@monadking2761]

What a great looking bird! I remember the ABC where it all started from.

[@jandyhw66]

Thank you for this walk around I’ve always wondered how big the aircraft is and it’s technical aspects so thanks again!!!

[@scotsmanofnewengland7713]

A beautiful helicopter proudly made in Connecticut and Florida !!!

[@gammaechofoundationproductions]

Awesome!!!! Now this is the real Airwolf! I'll take one! I look forward to seeing more of your videos! You just earned a new subscriber! :)

[@hoplitecenturion9441]

I think I want one of those.

[@Beaheadoeverybody]

Most of us do honestly this are awesome and modern not only that but they are also fast

[@Defender78]

0:34 yikes that gap between the rudder/aelieron and the fuselage,

[@largeformat942]

Forget the F-22, I want one of these! Beautiful aircraft.

[@nirjharbhatnaagar1982]

those seats re cramped up..almost no room for accidental safety...! woow

[@Misitheus]

All built to protect you and America.....mKay

[@richardpoynton4026]

Sikorsky should have contacted the media company Bellisario over the rights for the name ‘Airwolf’……. Because how cool would that have been? Having a futuristic attack helicopter that actually is called Airwolf!!!

[@hashansandakelum5677]

Thank you locate Martin

[@steveconaway774]

One of the most advanced helicopters in the world sporting cutting edge compound thrust technology and it’s got a discontinued Garmin GNS 430 in the panel.

[@Praetore_]

Probably a placeholder for what normally goes there to avoid leaking classified systems to public/etc I would assume.

[@cpgoef6]

Need to get rid of the opposite side sticks. Pick a side for each to be on otherwise you’ll have a hard time switching pilots from seat to seat.

[@marshalllapenta7656]

Couple of questions? The shell or body I'm guessing is aluminum?(What about Carbon Fiber?)(Blades as well) How's the Radar Cross Signature that it leaves behind on radar?(Any Radar absorbing material?) How does this fair in comparison with Anti Aircraft Artillery? How does this do in extreme weather flights? Has anyone ever done a stress test or a destructive test on 1 of these?(Just to see where the failure mode is at) What about against an EMP as well? What about the payload or missiles it can carry? Golden Retriever signing off...…

[@nasosnasos8054]

Price ?

[@oculusangelicus8978]

This is a remake of the Cheyenne, which was also an attack helicopter with a pusher prop, nut it was cancelled in favor of the Cobra which was a serious downgrade, so there is a lot of people who believe that there was some under the table shenanigans that caused the Cheyenne to be dropped. Nice to see the technology being reintroduced, as it really was a loss that Cheyenne wasn't chosen as America's attack Helicopter.

[@zachhoefs9543]

The Cheyenne also had the problem of being a single rotor helicopter with a pusher. Nothing to offset the torque of that single rotor seems like it'd be a problem.

[@AurumFaber]

@@zachhoefs9543 the Cheyenne had a third rotor for offsetting the torque. It couldn't fly otherwise.

[@zachhoefs9543]

@@AurumFaber I don't see one.

[@AurumFaber]

@@zachhoefs9543 the helicopter in this video isn't the Cheyenne if that's what you mean. This one has two main rotors so that they cancel each other's torque by rotating in opposite directions. The AH-56A Cheyenne was the helicopter that was scrapped for suspicious reasons.

[@user-pq4by2rq9y]

@@zachhoefs9543 the cheyenne had two tail rotors, one as a prop, much like the raider, and other to offset the torque and turn the aircraft, much like any traditional helicopter design. The cheyenne also had a built-in gyroscope for balance while that coaxial rotor does the same job for the raider. The cheyenne had a serious problem with vibration that seems to plague the defiant. Let's hope Sikorsky get at least the raider figured out.

[@chgofirefighter]

6 troops only?

[@pixsilvb9638]

Now my country, Colombia, which is the 4th largest operator of Blackhawks in the world and has the largest military helicopter fleet in Southamerica by far, could start thinking on changing to this new platform. Our own attack version of the Blackhawk, the Arpia IV (Harpy) armed to the teeth with long range NLOS Spike missiles, is an awesome view to behold. They all look as if the Blackhawks were breeded with the Mantis to create the Arpia IV. Just imagine what we could do with a fleet of new Raider X. 🥰

[@serdradion4010]

It's better the attack heli , than attack version of medium transport heli like the Blackhawk. Those are: AH-1 Viper, AH-64 Apache, AW Leonardo T-129, Rooivalk, TAI T-129, Airbus Tiger...

[@pixsilvb9638]

@@serdradion4010 Yeah, but first, each cost triple than the Blackhawk (15 ~ 17 million); second, when we aproached the US to purchase the Apache (45 millions) they said NO. At the time (the start of the millenium) our transport helos were being shot during the landings and suffered heavy loses because we didn't have heavy close aerial protection, the landings were extremly difficult in the middle of dense high mountain jungles so the only clear spots to disembark the commandos were few and the commuist guerrillas were there waiting for them. We urgently needed a heavy gunned helo to cover our transports landings. We thought the Apache or even the Super Cobra were the answer but the US negative gave us no much choice so in a stroke of creativity we decided to transform the Blackhawk into a heavy armed gunship to protect our troops and thats what we did. The Arpia I project started almost 20 years ago and today we got the 4th iteration with the heavyly armed Arpia IV packing a huge array of Gatling machin guns, Spike NLOS anti-tank missiles with a range of 25 kilometers, and even the capability to launch the Delilah cruise missile manufactured by Israel Military Industries (IMI). This of course gave us a much greater capability and more options to move from irregular battle scenarios to use the Arpia in conventional warfare against armored vehicles and main battle tanks, and even in anti-ship rol.

[@serdradion4010]

@@pixsilvb9638 Leonardo T-129, ex Agusta-Westland costs around 30 mil $, the most economic one and no limits to sell. Russian MI-35, Chinese Z-10 are even more economic, but probably they don't fit.

[@pixsilvb9638]

@@serdradion4010 Nothing like the Blackhawk Bro. Is simply the best utilitarian helo in the world. Plus is battle tested and is super reliable. In Colombia proved its quality. You ask the colombian armed forces and they could not praise this helo more. We even got a bunch that have been downed twice. Mechanics repaired them and in matter of weeks they are back flying over the combat zones.

[@robertt.7673]

Why? Who Colombia plan to fight? Wouldn't you rather have 5 older helicopters than one of this Raider X. You can buy second handed helis from the US at cheap price and your country will be fine. A $100K stinger in a wrong hand can take down one of this and what do you have? Back to square one.

[@husky9088]

Quanto consuma ? Il cannoncino si può montare ?

[@quickchicken506]

Oh Yeah,,,,, How does it turn in hover mode???????

[@lulutileguy]

what colors can we choose think i will go urban with parking lines and asphalt grey maybe paint fire hydrant on side and no parking on the top good job well done and all that big raises coming to the team

[@InsanelyGhostly]

Hey Einstein, Thanks for not giving us a complete view of the aircraft

[@RANDALLBRIGGS]

Love the technology, hate the side-by-side seating. An attack helicopter/rotorcraft needs tandem seating. It's a smaller target to frontal enemy fire and it can go faster due to less flat-plate drag.

[@SonRothana-pb6wz]

Hello yes, Brother well to with me tonight about new model number and inside or outside please. Thanks.

[@NewtonInDaHouseYo]

Isn’t the collective normally on the left hand side of the pilot? Any reason why Sikorsky reversed it in the Raider?

[@1967250s]

Helo pilots normally sit right seat, but guessing you know that. The copilot needs to learn to reverse hands, but, yeah, kinda odd that they could not just parallel the hand controls like most helps. Probably the engineers getting too cute and not thinking of actual combat necessity. I'd change it to normal joystick between the knees and collective on left and probably could shave off a foot at least in width.

[@its_jjk]

Damn, solid state circuit breakers. Fancy haha

[@choprjock]

Two pilots sharing one collective? Is that right? Flying from the left seat has got to be a confusing transition.

[@Rafa-mp6xe]

and of course expensive in maintenance, technology is expensive which mean it will only be buyed in limited numbers (foreign countries)

[@aleksandermiskowiec6591]

S97, is it name of speaker or heli?

[@465maltbie]

Neat idea, lets see if it fulfills the promises. Charles

[@e.sstudios1015]

Great Job Sikorsky aviators!

[@zac0918]

probably wont see this in my lifetime going into actual missions for the army

[@astatine5781]

Hopefully you will, and hopefully I’ll be making these things in real life too.

[@badlyniceness2315]

Thanks for telling where the vulnerable area are located…Six passengers? So what?

[@spaceisalie5451]

this guy's makin big bucks

[@seanc6754]

it's awesome!. I think being able to seat 8-10 soldiers would make it a lot more useful

[@jedironin380]

He did say this one was designed more as a recon/attack craft. Not really designed as a troop carrier, but it can carry 6 if-needed.

[@mikeg2092]

I think the thought process was the deployment or extraction of small reconnaissance squads. Or being able to quickly pick up a down helicopter crew. The SB-1 Defiant has the troop carrying capacity at least on par with a Blackhawk

[@fromthefire4176]

This is meant to replace the Kiowa scout helicopter, not a transport.

[@ameritoast5174]

You are thinking of the Defiant X which is a version of this that would replace the blackawk helicopter. This is meant for recon mission with attack capability. I do admit that the 6 seats for quick pickup and deploying is a big benefit of this design. Have a recon heli there and need a quick extraction, you dont need to call in a blackhawk or little bird and can use this to get them out of there.

[@agoodneighborautorepair2176]

SUPER COOL

[@jonaspete]

Escape helicopter for super villian

[@adihariyanto1140]

Indonesia harus ditawari ini paling canggih dan kecepatan 280 km perjam

[@watchthe1369]

Cheyanne! Rules!

[@grantourismo0109]

does it support android auto and apple car play ?

[@gurugo666]

No, but it supports Android Kinetics and Apple Enemy go away

[@null2470]

Wonder how much power it pulls at OGE hover in higher density alt.

[@gurugo666]

bout 3.50 said Mr. Lochness Monster, Lockheed Martin Design Engineer. probably pretty good, also no LTE potential at high DA either.

[@braydenjewell]

Quite an old design so see come back in to the light, what makes it more applicable now ? It didn't pass the bar in 1967 so why now ? seems like it still has the same issues and only has the same advantages which aren't exactly sought after w

[@pandagold4722]

What's its flight ceiling?

[@myplane150]

Can anyone comment on whether it is difficult to fly a helicopter with the stick being controlled by the left hand? I am a fixed wing pilot who has never flown with a stick but am a bit uncomfortable using my left hand on a yoke. It is weird using the left hand stick?

[@flyoptimum]

I fly helicopters and that is a serious no for me. The collective works in the left hand because you can only move it up or down. The cyclic controls pitch and roll and requires much more sure touch. The shared collective between the pilots also irritates me.

[@Khowaiao1]

All these helicopters, manned fighter aircraft, and surface ships have been made obsolete…..by the introduction of the small unmanned drone….Bayraktar

[@eventfulnonsense]

It looked like Airwolf to me.

[@hayabusa27]

This is smoke screen for the stealth version

[@andrewbarnes62]

One word - awesome!

[@davidhickman1194]

If there's nothing magic about the transmission and swashplates, why not show them?

IRL Airwolf 👌

[@glbernini0]

He mentions how comfortable the seats are but they don't look like they have much adjustments. I was expecting more from a multi million dollar aircraft.

[@Rampant16]

Blackhawk seats are some canvas stretch over a metal frame. So it doesn't take much to be a substantial upgrades over those.

[@Springbok314]

Too bad that FARA was cancelled. Sikorsky will be taking a serious bath.

[@georgiojansen7758]

sell this at aldi or lidl

[@Man_fay_the_Bru]

That’s cool af man

[@citadel9611]

Love this design.

[@zaviergathanhabibi26]

Like Gyrocopter

[@arnoldmayii3563]

Awesome

[@105htetzarne2]

Does anyone remember Bradley after seeing this? 😆

[@mimsnshine]

💝

[@williamrobinson4265]

so damn cool

[@-ZTUN-]

the front looks like a ladies ballerina shoe

[@dbgjbfjfi4374]

Yah helicopter Bharat ko chahie Kitna Paisa loge batao

[@SALTYDATTO]

mask of compliance is making him too muffled haha

[@thealanguy4547]

Uh, didn't the original R-4 or R-3 (as seen in the U.S. Army Aviation Museum) also have the "shared collective" in the middle and it didn't work? Have we just evolved to be able to overcome that type of uncoordination?

[@alpteknbaser7773]

👍🙏

[@mohammedines6182]

Ok envoyé moi dix-sept hélicoptères limousines rallongés blindés Super Luxe de ce modèle.vite.

[@karanvarma5789]

Seems like a helo for spec ops missions after their embarrassing crashes in abottabad and Syria using the uh-60's

[@michaelmichaelagnew8503]

Army should love this new heli, navy too.

[@icewallowcome_daily9802]

I like the design but the tail rotor is dangerous

[@kerbalairforce8802]

Tail rotors are always dangerous

[@dk0306]

Helicipters are easy to shoot down. Why investing in this?

[@toddw6716]

Looks like another LM boondoggle

[@bradjames6748]

Sikorsky should fix the birds it already has in the field first, the body count on the CH 148 is at 6 Canadian forces personnel!!!

[@lacachiporra5034]

It looks like something you see in a Tom Clancy techno thriller movie.

[@DrJohnnyJ]

For the price of one of these we could run a high school for a year. What a waste.

[@freetrade8830]

Unlike public schools, military helicopters are occasionally useful.

[@kerbalairforce8802]

If you refunded the tax money a parent is forced to pay public schools, they could afford a nice private school.

[@eprofessio]

It’s looks like a giant salad shooter. They should have adopted the Mcdonald dougles Notar system.

[@quantumreality8191]

haunted composite Plastic Garbage . goku defeated red ribbon army as a kid

[@elcidgranada3549]

Well an inviroment like ukraine is bad news for anything that flies unless its a drone

[@netto587]

Rusian the best ARMY UUUURRAAAAAAAA 🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺

[@gadjodilo22]

great more killing machines, yey!! humans are awsome.

[@smoochie3601]

Only 6 seat thay say you can put 12

[@More-Space-In-Ear]

Wow two in one aircraft, fly forwards as a helicopter and backwards like a plane..go figure 🥴

[@hammersandoval1011]

Bust in design, need to phase this idea 💡 into Blackhawk design.🤔🇬🇧👍🙏

[@cryzz0n]

This is a remake of the Cheyenne, which was also an attack helicopter with a pusher prop, nut it was cancelled in favor of the Cobra which was a serious downgrade, so there is a lot of people who believe that there was some under the table shenanigans that caused the Cheyenne to be dropped. Nice to see the technology being reintroduced, as it really was a loss that Cheyenne wasn't chosen as America's attack Helicopter.

[@BrandoDrum]

A downgrade on paper but the Cheyenne had some major issues. Sadly it was the overly complicated rotating cockpit design right that sealed it's fate? Can't remember, super interesting program but had some funky stuff that didn't make sense

[@mrp8488]

It would look so much cooler if it had the slender streamline shape like the AH-1Z Viper, or RAH-66 Comanche.

[@mrp8488]

180 knots, seems a little slow. I believe the Defiant-X is ~ 280 knots.

[@astatine5781]

In every engineer game I play where you can make a helicopter, I always make a compound coaxial, it’s just so cool to engineer. First I tried a tilt rotor like the V-22 Osprey but it was super unsafe and just not reliable, then my grandfather told me about the compound coaxial since I wanted something fast with VTOL and the ability to hover around a target like a helicopter. I can’t wait to see these replace regular helicopters because they are so much cooler and basically just do everything better.

[@fred.flintstone4099]

In what game is that?

[@gurugo666]

@@fred.flintstone4099 AUTOCAD duh

[@ablogistictrailroad5471]

Is beautiful and esthetic design the Rusia ka52 helicopter is highly bad design

[@kenbred46]

Please, give us a glimpse of this puppy, from a maintainers standpoint.

[@JameBlack]

Lol, and Russia still produces old soviet crap from 60th

[@Max-wo7zp]

It has a great design, it is like F35 of helicopters.

[@Ppadira]

Ever heard of bell 360 invictus

[@TheEwanMC]

The F-35 Urg, bleah! Quite the opposite, the Raider X is a fast hot rod, where as the F-35 tops out at Mach 1.6 which pretty pedestrian by any standard--admittedly much faster than a Harrier or A-10 I guess. Also, we used to talk about Supercruise capability as being a 6th gen capability, well I'm afraid you need to look elsewhere. I'd rather say the Raider X is the F-22 of helicopters but with the 1990 avionics and computers brought up to date.

[@scratchy996]

@@Ppadira The Bell 360 Invictus looks better, but I don't know how it can justify its existence, when there are drones that do the same thing. At least the Raider X can be used as a transport, as well as recon/attack helicopter.

[@Ppadira]

@@scratchy996 Well that doesn't mean drones can replace attack choppers anytime soon . May be in future when unmanned choppers wont be a just mere a paper drawing

[@scratchy996]

@@Ppadira Drones are already replacing attack helicopters.

[@bowlampar]

It looks formidable and high tech. Very cool!

[@laserbrain7774]

seems small to weigh 10,000lb

[@Rampant16]

Aircraft can be quite heavy. The frame and skin are probably pretty lightweight but the jet engines, gearbox(es), drive shafts, rotor heads, etc. all are very dense and heavy.

[@texasranger24]

Sikorsky has the S-97 Raider compete with the Bell+Textron 360 Invictus in the AAS / FARA (armed scout) program. Meanwhile, the Sikorsky+Boeing SB-1 Defiant competes with the Bell+Lockheed V280 Valor for the FVL (long-range lift) program. Given how the US defense industry works, it is likely that both companies get one contract each, to keep every factory running, everybody employed. So if you like both Sikorsky or both Bell designs, get ready for a disappointment. The Raider has troop capacity while the Invictus does not, but that gives the Invictus better stealth properties, just like the Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche had. Not sure why they abandoned that design. Just to push a common scout and transport design when they know it's not very likely they'll get both contracts? The V280 seems to be the more mature design, faster and longer range. But the SB-1 might offer better handling and safety, as it is not a tilt rotor. And it's smaller, closer to the Blackhawk size. This might really go both ways.

[@mariomacalalad2119]

China surely will have a craft like that a month after you showed it the multi media

[@elliaselliyasa3885]

Cool but I love Valor and I hope Valor will win

[@txtworld]

Yes, for FLRAA, the Bell V-280 Valor is head & shoulders above Sikorsky's offering, the Defiant X. This YT video's about the Raider X, Sikorsky's FARA offering, up against another Bell powerhouse - the 360 Invictus.

[@catalanmart1612]

A prefer Raider

[@kenbred46]

@@txtworld Valor's, rotor footprint is nearly 15 feet longer than defiant, which would make it a no go for tight landing zones. That's why they use multiple Blackhawks instead if 1 or 2 chinooks. And if the LZ is big enough just use a 44 passenger chinook and not a 12 passenger V-280. Plus if the army chose the defiant for utility, attack and scout mission a lot of the acft parts are interchangeable, making procurement and supply storage much easier.

[@txtworld]

@@kenbred46 When the V-280 Valor is rotated 90 degrees, its landing footprint is equivalent to the Defiant. Due to the V-280 Valor's significantly shorter length.

[@randomman057]

@@txtworld What? That is not true in the slightest. The V-280 has an absurdly large wingspan that does not change whether in forward flight or the hover configuration. Unless you mean when the wings are in the folded position, which is for stowage purposes and not actual flight operations.

[@nasosnasos8054]

Love

[@defenstrator4660]

Interesting. I have to say I would prefer hard switches for some key functions rather than simply integrating everything.

[@Airman..]

🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸

[@nyuthevlog2146]

I just want to know the safety gare..