--- title: "This futuristic twin-blade helicopter may be the Army’s replacement for the iconic Black Hawk" description: "Aerospace giants Boeing and Sikorsky have unveiled a helicopter that might end up replacing the Army's fleet of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters" date: "2021-01-26" modified: "2021-01-26" authors: - name: "Jared Keller" job_title: "Former Managing Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/jaredkeller/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-black-hawk-replacement-defiant-x-video/" categories: - "Aircraft" - "Army" - "Helicopters" - "Military Branches" - "News" - "Tech & Tactics" --- # This futuristic twin-blade helicopter may be the Army’s replacement for the iconic Black Hawk ![]() Aerospace giants Boeing and Sikorsky have unveiled a next-generation helicopter that, with any luck, might end up replacing the Army's fleet of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. The so-called Defiant X is a compound coaxial helicopter based on the partnership's earlier SB\>1 Defiant design that [first took flight in 2019](). The Defiant X will face off against Bell and Textron's V-280 tiltrotor aircraft in the service's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program. While it may look like an attack submarine had a baby with a Black Hawk, the Defiant X is, for all intents and purposes, a muscular troop carrier designed to insert U.S. forces into the most hostile of environments with increased speed and previously-unseen versatility for a rotary-wing aircraft. The SB\>1 Defiant was itself essentially a bigger, badder version of Sikorsky's S-97 Raider, which had an unusual coaxial rotor system “designed to fly at twice the speed and range of today's conventional helicopters and offers advanced agility and maneuverability,” [according]() to Sikorsky and Boeing. Compared to the earlier SB\>1 Defiant, the Defiant X offers "enhancements to improve aerodynamics and reduce the thermal signature," as Sikorsky and Boeing said in a [statement](), enhancements that will provide soldiers "with increased maneuverability and survivability in high-threat air defense environments, allowing them to penetrate enemy defenses while reducing exposure to enemy fire." The SB\>1 Defiant previously achieved a flight speed of 211 knots back in October 2020, reaching 232 knots at its top descent speed, [according]() to Military.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time\_continue=1&v=SdvyBpJKn7c&feature=emb\_logo&ab\_channel=LockheedMartin The FLRAA program, formally initiated in 2019 under the service's [Future Vertical Lift ]()(FVL) program, is intended to [field]() a new long-range attack helicopter for the service by fiscal year 2030 as a [potential replacement]() for both the Black Hawk and, potentially, the service's AH-64 Apaches. The Black Hawk currently comes armed with twin 7.62mm machine guns, while the Apache is generally outfitted with an M230 30mm cannon, Hydra-70 2.75-inch rockets, and Hellfire missiles. If the Defiant X is going to replace both the Black Hawk and the Apache, then it's going to need to pack a ton of firepower — hell, it might even come out looking less like a submarine crossed with a helicopter and more like a flying torpedo bristling with weaponry. The Defiant X "will be the fastest, most maneuverable, and most survivable assault helicopter in history," Sikorsky [and]() Boeing said in a statement. "Combined with the team's unsurpassed experience in mission systems, training, and sustainment, it will revolutionize the way the Army meets threats in 2035 and beyond." The unveiling of the Defiant X comes nearly a year after the Army selected Bell-Textron and Boeing-Sikorsky to move forward as part of the FLRAA's Competitive Demonstration and Risk Reduction Program (CD&RR) program, the two-year transition period from technology demonstrators to "competitive aircraft," [according]() to the Congressional Research Service. "Defiant X is purpose-built for a modernized Army that requires expanded reach, survivability, and lethality," said Steve Parker, vice president and general manager of Boeing Vertical Lift, in a statement. "This weapon system will give Soldiers unequaled technological advantage and connectivity over adversaries in a multi-domain battlespace." The Army is expected to deliver a formal contract award for either the Defiant X or the V-280 Valor by some time in the second quarter of fiscal year 2022. ## Author Jared Keller is the former managing editor of Task & Purpose. His writing has appeared in Aeon, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the New Republic, Pacific Standard, Smithsonian, and The Washington Post, among other publications. ### Author social links [Twitter]() [Facebook]() [LinkedIn]() [Instagram]()