• 09 Jan 2023 09:35 AM
• 0

Sikorsky Developing Hybrid-Electric VTOL

Sikorsky is developing a hybrid-electric VTOL demonstrator aircraft, Vertical magazine reported on Dec. 2. The aircraft will be designed for a range of AAM applications, and eventually could serve as a vehicle for developing an electric propulsion system for commercial and military aircraft. The demonstrator vehicle will use a turbine generator and the company’s Matrix autonomy system, which Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, developed with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Using the Matrix system, an aircraft “can avoid obstacles, and it can pick landing zones,” said Igor Cherepinsky, director of Sikorsky Innovations, in an interview with Vertical. “If you think about the commercial space, AAM is also in our sights.” The company will begin building the demonstrator in 2023, the article stated.