Sikorsky Aircraft, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. UTX -1.50% has selected Spectrum Associates, Inc. as a member of a newly-formed team that is building the S-97 RAIDER(TM) helicopter — a next-generation rotorcraft to be flown in 2014. Spectrum will design and integrate the components that comprise the fuel system into the aircraft, and will provide Sikorsky with the completed fuel system in kit form.

Sikorsky and its team suppliers are self-funding the design and manufacture of two S-97 Raider prototype aircraft for flight evaluation by the U.S. military in 2014. The program is currently in the advanced design stage.

“We’re very pleased to be participating in Sikorsky’s S-97 RAIDER helicopter program,” said Marc Driscoll, Spectrum sales and marketing director. “Designing and engineering how complex components fit into a predetermined space as a completed assembly is Spectrum’s specialty.”

A preferred Sikorsky Supplier Team Member for more than 40 years, Spectrum will perform the work at its 36,000 sq. ft. facility in Milford, Conn.

The Raider aircraft program follows Sikorsky’s successful X2 Technology(TM) demonstrator aircraft, which in September 2010 achieved more than 250 knots flight speed, or twice the average cruise speed of a conventional helicopter. The National Aeronautic Association awarded Sikorsky the 2010 Robert J. Collier Trophy for the achievement, and for its potential as a future rotorcraft technology.

As an X2 aircraft design, the S-97 Raider helicopter will feature twin coaxial counter-rotating main rotors and a pusher propeller to provide dramatic improvements in maneuverability, hover efficiency, high/ hot climate performance, and speed.

The Raider program has two principal objectives; to mature the X2 design with additional airframe and flight characteristics; and to offer the aircraft as a replacement candidate for the U.S. Army’s Armed Aerial Scout helicopter competition.

Defined as a light tactical helicopter, the single-engine Raider aircraft will weigh in at 11,000-lbs maximum gross weight. The program is currently in the advanced design stage.

The X2(TM) design is scalable, opening up a variety of potential mission uses including combat search and rescue, armed aerial scout, medical evacuation, attack, special operations, VIP and offshore oil transport.

For more information about the S-97 RAIDER program, please visit www.sikorsky.com .

For more information about Spectrum, please visit www.spectrumct.com