Jane Edwards
Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky subsidiary will build an uncrewed hybrid-electric vertical-take-off-and-landing aircraft prototype in partnership with General Electric’s aerospace business.
GE Aerospace will provide a CT7 turboshaft engine, 1 megawatt-class generator and related power electronics for the fully autonomous Hybrid-Electric Demonstrator aircraft and support the HEX project by building on the hybrid electric propulsion platform it is developing for the U.S. Army and NASA, Lockheed said Tuesday.
“Sikorsky’s HEX aircraft will provide critical insights into the possibilities of electric systems in VTOL aircraft. Ultimately, we want to show the potential of large, advanced air mobility vehicles to perform utility missions for the U.S. military and transport passengers between cities,” said Sikorsky President Paul Lemmo.
The long-range HEX aircraft will be used as a flying test bed to help assess propulsion systems, large aircraft design and control architectures.
The rapid prototyping group at Sikorsky Innovations will oversee the integration of the company’s Matrix autonomy flight control system with the demonstrator’s airframe and electric motors as part of the HEX project, which could lead to the development of large eVTOL vehicles that could support military and commercial missions.
