S-97 Raider Highlights Sikorsky Advances | Aviation International News

Paris Air Show 2025

S-97 Raider Highlights Sikorsky Advances

Sikorsky’s 210-knot compound helicopter appears in Paris

Sikorsky S-97 Raider — The Sikorsky S-97 Raider is making its international debut this week at the Paris salon. © David McIntosh/AIN

By David Donald • Contributor - UK

June 18, 2025

Sikorsky’s S-97 Raider compound helicopter is making its international debut this week at the Paris Air Show. The type embodies the company’s X2 technology, which was first tested on a technology demonstrator of the same name that first flew in 2008. The S-97 formed the basis for the company’s S-102 Raider X, which was proposed for the U.S. Army’s Future Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) requirement.

Although the FARA program was canceled by the Army in 2024, with Sikorsky having built a single unflown prototype, the two S-97s have continued to be used as development tools. These helicopters fly on average once a week to trial new technologies for the continued advancement of the X2 concept and for applications to other Sikorsky types such as the S-70 Hawk family.

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