[PM] The Joint Multi-Role helicopter program is a multi-service effort to replace many of the helicopters the armed services use with a new generation of helicopter--or helicopter-like aircraft. The UH-60 Blackhawk, for example, is used by the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard, while the CH-47 Chinook and the AH-64 Apache are used by the Army. All of the designs, while highly effective, date back to the 1960s and 1970s. The JMR program has several subprograms, with the Future Vertical Lift-Medium set to replace the UH-60 and AH-64 and the FVL-Heavy set to replace the CH-47.
Sikorsky Boeing's entrant for the FVL-Medium, the Defiant, got a boost this week with a new video that fleshes out some key details. The Defiant will have a top speed of 250+ knots air speed, which translates to 287 miles an hour. That's more than a hundred miles an hour faster than the UH-60M Blackhawk transport, which tops out at 183 miles an hour. |