Sikorsky X2 Sikorsky X2 The Sikorsky X2 is an experimental high-speed compound helicopter with coaxial rotors developed by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky developed the X2 helicopter on a $50 million budget. The design includes expertise gathered from several earlier design projects. The S-69/XH-59A Advancing Blade Concept Demonstrator had shown that high speed was possible with a coaxial helicopter with auxiliary propulsion (two jet engines), but that vibration and fuel consumption was excessive; the Cypher UAV expanded the company's knowledge of the unique aspects of coaxial flight control laws with a fly-by-wire aircraft; and the RAH-66 Comanche developed expertise in composite rotors and advanced
Sikorsky Cypher Sikorsky Cypher The Sikorsky Cypher and Cypher II are types of unmanned aerial vehicles developed by Sikorsky Aircraft. They are vertical takeoff and landing aircraft which use two opposing rotors enclosed in a circular shroud for propulsion. In the late 1980s, Sikorsky Aircraft flew a small UAV named "Cypher", with coaxial rotors inside a torus-shaped airframe. The torus shroud improved handling safety and helped increase lift. The first proof-of-concept Cypher was 1.75 meters (5.75 feet) in diameter and 55 centimeters (1.8 feet) tall, weighed 20 kilograms (43 pounds), and was first flown in the summer of 1988. This design was