Originally Posted by
The Sultan
Spline
All of the attention the Army has given the V-280 indicates they are ready for a tilt rotor. Add to that that the Marines spec for a new medium can only be met by a tilt rotor the Army will not want to cede leadership of the program.
As for the 92: the last military variant worked out to $200M apiece, far above the $42m target FLRAA unit cost.
On the 97 the max speed was suppose to be 240 knots which in the commercial world requires you to demo 267 knots (+11%). The 97 struggles to get above 180kts and the refined scout/attack derivative is now billed as having only a 205 kt top speed. So I stand by the 50 kts short.
Oh, I agree that the Army is ready for a tilt rotor and that such an aircraft is the right technical solution for long range assault... I'm just suggesting what Sikorsky's next strategy might be.
As for speed, I see how you got 50 knots short now... it has definitely missed the target very significantly. The Raider-X has grown in gross weight and drag more than horsepower, so I fully expect a slower cruise and top speed. So much so that the complexity of the configuration isn't worth the cost and payload hit if a slick and optimized conventional helicopter can achieve similar speed targets.
Defiant might have enough installed power to make its targets... let's see if it has the funding and patience also required.