Sikorsky S-68 Advanced Aerial Reconnaissance Vehicle (AARV)

Antonio

Antonio

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Some years ago, my friend Thomas from Germany and me, managed to identify this helo as the Sikorsky S-68.
Source is:
Stealth Technology. The art of black magic by J Jones. 1989. ISBN 0-8306-8381-X

"Early 1970s proposal by Sikosrsky for Army's armored aerial reconnaissance vehicle program"

Anybody knows more about that program?
 

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Looks like the Sikorsky AARV dating back to 1968 designed to fly 2 pilots for 3 hours. It was armoured and could with stand .50 calibre strikes. try an article in Military Technology MILTECH 8/84 Flying Tanks by Richard Simpkin.
 

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Dear gentlemen,

please note a mistake on my post.

The design number for this helicopter it is not S-58, it's S-68. I have corrected in the Subject title but it still remains on the filename of the pic I uploaded!

I'm sorry for the mistake
 
JAZZ,

thanks a lot for your reply. Unfortunately I have no access to Miltech but can you ask me one additional question?

What is the meaning of AARV?

I guess this helo role was targeting for anti-armour helicopters, this could be the reason for to be heavy protected against light infantry fire while flying low near enemy lines...is it right?


Thanks again,
Antonio
 
Thanks a lot Orionblamblam
The AW&ST article is fantastic.

My friend Thomas (the same who wrote "Soviet Seaplane Jet Bombers" for APR V5N4) sent me these additional pics.
The 12 passenger troop-carrying helicopter mock-up described in the article you posted (page number one) is here.


Sikorsky AARV.jpg -> CAPTION: Projekt bronirowannogo S-68 / SOURCE: Katyshev/Mikheyev: Krylya Sikorskogo, ISBN 5203014688, Voyenizdat, Moscow 1992

The next images seem to be photographed in Fort Rucker (Texas?):

Sikorsky AARV mockup.jpg -> CAPTION: Wooden mock-up of the proposed scout helicopter to find targets for attack helicopters if it ever reaches production. / SOURCE: [magazine] "Air Classics Quarterly Review" Fall 1979 (page 22)

Sikorsky AARV troop-carrier mock-up.jpg -> CAPTION: Wood mock-up of the Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System. / SOURCE: [magazine] Air Classics Quarterly Review Fall 1979 (page 27)
 

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Orionblamblam said:
The troop carrier design was patented, so there are halfway-decent drawings of it available.
Click to expand...

Unless you have the patent number, how do you find patents before 1976?
 
Orionblamblam said:
TinWing said:
Unless you have the patent number, how do you find patents before 1976?
Click to expand...

By manually searching through the patents in the Denver public library.

That was fun... :-[
Click to expand...

That sounds painful!

All of my pre-1976 patent finds have been from the references of post-1976 patents.
 
"Twas painful, but ti was the only way. The US patent office puts out a monthly digest of all cleared patents, organized by classification; simply grab an issue, find the classification and see what patents look good, write down the numbers and look them up on the microfilm and copy/print. While the latter part of that has now been replaced with "download from USPTO website," the first part, so far as I'm aware, remains.

Bleah.
 
Stealth Technology. The art of black magic by J Jones. 1989
Click to expand...

Pardon me for going off-topic, but this must be one of the worst books ever. Practically everything in it is wrong...
 
You are right Paul. Some interesting pics (for instance the UH companion design to LHX combat scouts from Sikorsky and McDD entries) but totally wrong text.

This Sikorsky AARH is described as an Stealthy helicopter because of the faceted skin...when faceted skin was a consequence of the armour plates configuration.
 
Here's one Sikorsky project for the U.S. Army in the early 1970s - called the Advanced Aerial Reconnaissance Vehicle or AARV. The airframe was sloped not for RCS-reduction but for ballistic protection - though the sloping is similar to that of faceting on stealth vehicles. Another Sikorsky project was a black-program called Greater Slope for a stealthy helicopter under contract to DARPA for the U.S. Army. It was listed in the Fiscal Year Defense budget request for 1984.

Vulture
 

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The model pictured above reminds one of this artist's concept, described elsewhere as the S-68 project. They are probably one and the same program.
 

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I remember the mockup of the AARV sitting outside the student company headquarters at Ft. Rucker many, er, many years ago.
 
vulture said:
Here's one Sikorsky project for the U.S. Army in the early 1970s - called the Advanced Aerial Reconnaissance Vehicle or AARV. The airframe was sloped not for RCS-reduction but for ballistic protection - though the sloping is similar to that of faceting on stealth vehicles. Another Sikorsky project was a black-program called Greater Slope for a stealthy helicopter under contract to DARPA for the U.S. Army. It was listed in the Fiscal Year Defense budget request for 1984.

Vulture
Click to expand...

GREATER SLOPE was PE code 0603217A , which translates to:
R&D, Advanced Development, Unknown R&D Category Aircraft & Related, Serial 17, Army
 

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