Flight International - 04

Rotorcraft Development
Kopter targets 100 year-end sales
Swiss-based Leonardo subsidiary nears key milestones for
light-single, as it aims for certification in second half of 2024
Dominic Perry Atlanta
Leonardo Helicopters is
confident it will reach the
100- order milestone for the
Kopter AW09 by end-2023
as it bids to secure the light-single’s
first three years of production.
It has gained “north of 50” deposit-backed
preliminary sales contracts
and expects this to reach 60
“before summer”, says Emilio Dalmasso,
senior vice-president of new
products business development.
“We should be able to get something
like 100 orders before the end
of the year and possibly 200 before
certification, which is forecast for
the second half of 2024,” he says.
At its planned initial final assembly
rate, 100 aircraft would equate
to three years of production,
Dal masso said, speaking at the
Heli- Expo show in Atlanta.
He anticipates service entry for
an initial batch of three of the €3.7
million ($3.9 million) AW09s in late
2024, with deliveries accelerating
the following year.
As Flight International went to
press, Kopter was due to fly the
fourth pre-serial aircraft (PS4)
– the first to be powered by the
Safran Helicopter Engines Arriel
2K turbo shaft – having completed
the necessary ground runs and obtained
permits to fly, says Michele
Kopter
Riccobono, the manufacturer’s
chief technology officer.
Kopter in January announced
that it had dropped the AW09’s
original Honeywell HTS900 powerplant
in favour of the Safran unit –
a project that took nine-months to
complete, Riccobono says.
Redesign of the engine deck was
required to integrate the longer
Arriel engine, he says, alongside
the production and assembly of
new parts.
Aircraft PS4 incorporates other
enhancements validated on earlier
prototypes, including new main
rotor blades with a reshaped aerofoil
and wider chord, additional
skid gear fairings, a new fin and
Test asset PS4 is first AW09 to be
powered by the Arriel 2K turbo shaft
horizontal stabiliser, and a more
aero dynamic upper fuselage cowling.
The modifications have “really
improved the stability and handling
qualities”, Riccobono adds.
PS4 will be the programme’s
main certification test asset but will
be joined this year by aircraft PS5,
which will later also serve as a customer
demonstrator, Dalmasso says.
Meanwhile, Kopter continues to
eye the potential for the addition
of a hybrid-electric system on the
AW09. In a first step, this would
use a battery pack and electric
motor to provide sufficient power
to enable a safe landing in case of
failure of the thermal engine. ◗
See p22
Sikorsky and GE Aerospace outline HEX appeal
Sikorsky and GE Aerospace have
teamed up to develop a new
hybrid-electric demonstrator –
dubbed HEX – which could be
flying as early as 2026.
Disclosed at the Heli-Expo show,
the development will see the US
propulsion specialist supply a CT7
turboshaft engine, 1MW generator
and associated power electronics
for the project.
Paul Lemmo, Sikorsky
president, says the 3,200-
3,600kg (7,000-8,000lb)
maximum gross weight vehicle
will be equipped with the
company’s Matrix technology,
enabling it to fly autonomously.
He sees applications for the
new powertrain in both civil and
military markets, and has begun
briefing potential customers on
the development.
Igor Cherepinsky, director of
Sikorsky innovations, declines to
disclose the architecture of the
demonstrator but says it is “not a
conventional rotorcraft”.
Cherepinsky says the hybridelectric
powertrain would in future
probably be applied to heavier
heli copters – Sikorsky’s traditional
“sweet spot” – but adds that “we
didn’t want to start there”.
A hybrid-electric system
would allow the power train to
be optimised for different flight
phases, he says.
The system will include a battery
pack, potentially offering a source
of emergency power for a larger
single-engined platform in future.
April 2023 Flight International 9