Helicopters

Sikorsky and Boeing have been working on this high-speed, long-range, ultra-maneuverable military helicopter design for some time, and now they’ve released the first photos of what is expected to become a highly effective US Army utility helicopter sometime in the 2030s.

The US Air Force has completed testing of its new face mask for helicopter and other rotary aircraft crews. The Joint Service Aircrew Mask – Rotary Wing (JSAM-RW) mask is one of five variants that will replace a whole range of masks worn by military aircrews.

The US Air Force has selected the Boeing MH-139 helicopter to replace its venerable fleet of UH-1N “Huey” choppers that are used to protect America's land-based nuclear ICBMs in the US Midwest. The contract, worth US$2.4 billion, is for 84 aircraft along with support services and training systems.

An Autonomous Aerial Cargo Utility System (AACUS)-enabled UH-1H helicopter has autonomously delivered 520 lb (236 kg) of water, gasoline, MREs, communications gear, and a cooler capable of carrying urgent supplies such as blood to US Marines in the field.

Bell's experimental V-280 Valor has made its first cruise flight. A video released by the company shows the tilt-rotor aircraft flying with its propellers tilted to forward for the first time on May 11, when it reached a top speed of 190 knots (218 mph, 352 km/h)

The world's fastest helicopter is being set out to pasture as the British Army announces that its last five Westland Lynx helicopters will be formally retired on January 31 after 40 years of active service.

Aurora Flight Sciences has successfully demonstrated an autonomous flight system that can be retrofitted to existing helicopters. A US Marine Corps UH-1H​ AACUS-enabled helicopter demonstrated its autonomous flight and operational capabilities​ by executing a series of re-supply missions.

Yamaha announced today that it will show a multi-rotor YMR-01 drone at tomorrow's Next Generation Agriculture Expo in Tokyo. The YMR-01 is one of many new agricultural drones to be launched at the expo, but it is a landmark in that it is the first multicopter to be shown by Yamaha.​

The US President's next official rotorcraft ride has made its maiden flight as a 250-hour flight test program for the Sikorsky VH-92A helicopter begins. According to Sikorsky parent company Lockheed Martin, the future Marine One took to the skies at Lockheed's Owego, New York facilities on July 28.

The US Army's fleet of Chinook helicopters will be getting a bit more muscle over the next decade as Boeing ramps up for construction and testing of three CH-47F Block II airframes. This is part of a modernization program to provide the Chinook with more lifting power and a stronger fuselage.

Sikorsky has announced that is will repurpose 10 ex-US military Black Hawk helicopters for aerial firebombing operations and year-round emergency and disaster relief in Australia and New Zealand.

Laser weapons have been tested on ships, planes, and even armored vehicles, but Raytheon has pushed the envelope further again by successfully testing a high-energy laser mounted on an Apache AH-64 attack helicopter and locking onto and hitting an unmanned target.