Tue, Feb 23, 2010
Selected For Prospective DARPA Contract
Sikorsky Innovations group has been selected by the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for a contract to develop
active rotor technologies that will allow aircraft to adapt to a
changing environment and dynamically enhance performance.
Once the DARPA contract is finalized, the project will have
three phases starting with a $5.9 million contract for Phase I.
This phase will take 16 months and focus on a robust design of the
mission-adaptive rotor system, enabling technology development and
assessment of the benefits. Phases II and III will be competitively
awarded by DARPA at the conclusion of Phase I. Phase II calls for a
validation of the design and ground test, while Phase III will
entail flight testing.
"Adaptive rotor technologies have the potential to vastly
improve performance, and reduce vibration and noise," said Mark
Miller, Vice President of Research and Engineering, at Heli-Expo
2010. "With this DARPA contract, Sikorsky Innovations will tackle
the challenge of making the helicopter smarter. We are developing
the next generation helicopter - an intelligent and adaptive
helicopter that can become aware of its surroundings, identify the
proximity of a threat, adjust in brownout situations, and respond
appropriately."
The program will create new options for the next generation of
aircraft and retrofit possibilities for the existing fleet.
The mission of Sikorsky Innovations is to develop and mature the
technologies, products and processes that will redefine the future
of vertical flight. The organization builds on Sikorsky's nearly 90
years of innovation and will increase the scope of previous efforts
by expanding collaborative arrangements spanning government
technology agencies, academic institutions, other UTC facilities
and entrepreneurial businesses where research and product
development will take place in cooperation with Sikorsky's
engineers and technicians. Projects are currently under way at more
than 20 locations nationwide.
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