Army soldiers get involved in helicopter design process

Members of the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade got a look at development of the SB-1 Defiant vertical lift helicopter, the Army said on Friday.

The active duty and National Guard soldiers of the brigade, headquartered at Fort Campbell, Ky., visited the Sikorsky Development Flight Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., to learn about the design of the medium-lift helicopter destined to replace the UH-60 Black Hawk, which first saw service in 1974.

The aircraft is a compound helicopter with two rigid, counter-rotating coaxial rotors, and powered by two Honeywell T55 engines. Its first flight took place in 2019.

"It is always good to get emerging tech into the hands of our soldiers early in the development process to garner their feedback now rather than after the fact," Command Sgt. Maj. James Wilson of the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence said in a press release.

The visitors to the design center offered suggestions, and a rifle squad participated in an exercise in which, dressed an armed in full battle gear, they demonstrated entry and exit of the helicopter.

"They took all of our feedback and were super-interested in what we had to say about the aircraft," 1Lt. Gabriel Marsan said. "I think these touchpoints are valuable, because it brings the soldier's input into the design phase."

The experience is an example of "soldier-centered design," a phrase used by the Army Futures Command to promote "agile acquisition" in place of designing and delivering equipment with cumbersome and time-consuming delays.

"Soldier-centered design places those who ultimately use the system squarely in the center of the design process ensuring their feedback and needs are the foremost consideration when making design trade-offs and decisions," an April ASC statement explains.

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