Hot new helicopter/rotorcraft news

[Griz882]

@Gatordev makes excellent points. There is no doubt the -60 is a remarkable platform and I certainly know today’s 60’s are not the same as older models, especially with reference to installed equipment. I do enjoy the conversations and exploration of future possibilities and limits.

 

[phrogdriver]

@Gatordev makes excellent points. There is no doubt the -60 is a remarkable platform and I certainly know today’s 60’s are not the same as older models, especially with reference to installed equipment. I do enjoy the conversations and exploration of future possibilities and limits.

The thing with helicopters is that they have some fundamental physical limits due to the nature of the platform. You can lift a little more, maybe add aux tanks, but you're not going much faster, and you can only go so much farther.

The H-60 is pretty much the platonic ideal of the medium lift helicopter. You could get a little bit better with a clean sheet design, but not enough to justify the cost and time. So you keep iteratively putting better and better electronics and weapons on it.

The next step is to go to an FVL-type or HSVTOL platform (tiltrotor, X2, Airbus A3/Racer, etc.) and/or unmanned. Those have their own foibles.

Also, naval aviation (the Navy side, anyway) is BROKE. There's no budget room for new toys until the 2030s. FA-XX is barely hanging on, and the only new aircraft you're likely to see are the rest of the F-35s on contract and the new TACAMO.