No U.S. military market for S-92, Sikorsky official says

Defense Daily, April 21, 1997 by Greg Caires

Faced with the resurgence of the Marine Corps' V-22 tiltrotor, Sikorsky Aircraft has shifted its S-92 Helibus helicopter marketing strategy away from the Pentagon and has instead focused on selling its new aircraft to foreign militaries, a senior company official said last week.

"With perhaps just one exception, there is no U.S. military customer for the S-92," Kenneth Kelly, Sikorsky's Vice President for the S-92 program, told an American Helicopter Society dinner last week in Arlington, Va. The one exception is the Marine Corps' HMX-1 squadron, which supports the President with Sikorsky H-3 and H-60 helicopters.

"It's our understanding that they're watching the program with interest," he said.

The S-92 is a larger version of Sikorsky's H-60 helicopter, which serves with all four services and 24 foreign countries, Kelly said. Designed to carry 19 to 22 passengers or lift 10,000 pounds externally to a distance of 100 nautical miles, the S-92 was first introduced in 1992 as a replacement to the Navy-Marine Corps' Boeing CH-46 cargo helicopter following the short-lived cancellation of Bell Helicopter/Boeing's V-22 program.

Sikorsky is building the Helibus in partnership with Brazil's Embraer, Spain's Gamesa, China's Jingdezhen Helicopter Group, Japan's Mitsubishi and the Taiwan Aerospace Corp. The S-92 is expected to make its first flight by 1999 and Sikorsky could be ready to take orders for the Helibus starting next summer, Kelly said.

"We're predicting the S-92's cost at $12.5 million in 1999 dollars," he said. The aircraft's operations and support costs are also expected to be lower than its competitors, Kelly added.

The new aircraft is being designed for both the military and commercial markets as a replacement for the H-3/S-61 and as a competitor to the NH-90, the EH-101 and the Super Puma.

"We took this approach because we estimate only 350 to 400 medium-size commercial helicopters will be sold world-wide over the next 20 years," Kelly said. "That's not enough to justify developing a new aircraft."

However, Sikorsky estimates a total of 1,390 medium and large military helicopters could be sold over the next 20 years, he said. "Based on that estimate, we believe we can sell at least 520 S-92s to the military market during that period," Kelly added.

Sikorsky is also targeting current H-60 operators who may be interested in expanding their helicopter fleet with a larger aircraft, Kelly said. "For example, the Brazilian military has six battalions of H-60s and they are looking to increase their lift capabilities," he added. "We think the S-92 will be attractive to them and other H-60 users."

One foreign military already looking at the Helibus is the Royal Danish Air Force, which is interested in it as a search and rescue aircraft, he added.

According to Kelly, the governments of the S-92 partner countries are also viewed as likely Helibus operators. "One reason we reached out to and work with these companies is because of the strategic markets they introduce us to," he said.

The fact that the S-92 uses both Chinese and Taiwanese components is not seen as an obstacle to selling the Helibus to either country, Kelly said. "If necessary, we'll build those components ourselves" for aircraft deliveries to either country, he added. China builds the S-92's vertical pylon and horizontal stabilizer and Taiwan manufactures the helicopter's nose section.