The X2 technology demonstrator has made its final flight, allowing manufacturer Sikorsky to shift its focus to the development of the S-97 Raider, a fast and agile light attack helicopter that borrows the X2’s twin-coaxial rotor design.
The final flight on July 14 was the 23rd test flight of the Collier-Award-winning X2, which flew about 22 hours in all and achieved a maximum cruise speed of 253 knots in level flight at that peak of the program. That milestone, an unofficial speed record for a conventional helicopter, was achieved on Sept. 15, 2010.
