According to the website of Jane's Defense Weekly, on July 26th, NATO awarded Airbus Helicopters, Lockheed Martin of the United States, and Leonardo da Vinci of Italy a 13 month contract to provide conceptual research for NATO's Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability (NGRC) project. NATO hopes to deploy the next generation of rotary wing aircraft starting from 2035. The NGRC project began in 2022, with France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Canada participating. The United States and Spain are observer countries for the project. The NATO Support and Procurement Agency stated in a statement that three companies will submit up to two concept studies by the fall of 2025. It will adopt cutting-edge technology to meet the operational needs of various countries, and innovate in digital design, development processes, advanced materials, and manufacturing. The medium multi-purpose helicopters currently equipped by NATO allies, such as the AW101, UH-60, NH-90, and Super Cougar, will be gradually retired from 2035 to 2040. The NGRC project aims to develop a next-generation rotary wing aircraft to replace the aforementioned helicopters in a timely and cost-effective manner. According to the project requirements, the production cost of the next generation rotary wing aircraft shall not exceed 35 million euros (approximately 38.05 million US dollars), and the hourly flight cost shall not exceed 10000 euros. It can perform takeoff and landing operations in restricted terrains such as forests, swamps, and mountains, greatly increasing combat flexibility and possessing multi-purpose capabilities. The next generation of rotary wing aircraft will also have unmanned driving capabilities, which can quickly switch between manned and unmanned modes. Its maximum speed exceeds 400 kilometers per hour, and it can collaborate with drones to launch and retrieve small drones, as well as command drone swarms. The next-generation rotorcraft concept design provided by Airbus Helicopters is a high-speed helicopter based on the Rapid and Cost Effective Rotorcraft (RACER). This type of helicopter has one propeller on each side of the fuselage to replace the traditional helicopter tail rotor, which increases the flight speed. However, in the NGRC rotorcraft concept diagram provided by Airbus Helicopters, the two propellers are not installed on both sides of the aircraft, but on the tail with the tail rotor retained, while weapon mounted short wings are installed on both sides of the aircraft. The conceptual design launched by Lockheed Martin Corporation in the United States is based on the X2 high-speed helicopter developed by the company's subsidiary Sikorsky. It adopts a rigid coaxial twin rotor and propeller layout, while absorbing the technical experience of the S-97 high-speed helicopter. The company has currently invested over $1 billion in the X2 high-speed helicopter project. The concept design of tiltrotor aircraft proposed by Leonardo da Vinci and Bell Helicopter Company in Italy is based on Bell Helicopter Company's V-22 and V-280 tiltrotor aircraft. The V-22 tiltrotor aircraft has been in long-term service in the US military. The V-280 tiltrotor aircraft has also undergone hundreds of hours of flight testing, with a top speed exceeding 500 kilometers per hour. Although all three companies have proposed their own conceptual designs using existing models, analysts believe that considering that it takes several years for a specific concept to mature, and various problems often arise in multi-national cooperation, the NATO NGRC project still has a long way to go. (New Society)
Edit：Xiong Dafei Responsible editor：Li Xiang
Source：XinHuaNet
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