🔒Lemmo pilots Sikorsky through high-stakes contract battle for Army’s new breed of aircraft

Sikorsky Aircraft, one of the pillars of Connecticut’s long-running success in advanced manufacturing, is facing an unusually risky challenge in 2022.

As Paul Lemmo, president of the Stratford-based subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp., explains it, the Army’s impending decision on a replacement for the Black Hawk helicopter, poses “an existential threat” to the future of the Connecticut operation.

With that comes an implied threat to more than 250 Connecticut suppliers that were paid more than $450 million last year. Sikorsky itself employs about 8,000 people at its Stratford headquarters and satellite locations in Bridgeport, Shelton and Trumbull.

It’s been a long time since Sikorsky officials had to worry about the future. But Lemmo, a longtime Lockheed Martin executive who’s been on the job at Sikorsky for almost a year, says his team is up to the task.

For 40 years, the Black Hawk has been the backbone of Sikorsky’s success. From the time development began in 1972 until the first unit was delivered in 1978, the concept was for a highly-versatile ship that built on Igor Sikorsky’s founding philosophy of “bringing everyone home safely.”

The copters have flown in a variety of challenging environments from Grenada and Panama to Iraq and Afghanistan. Modifications and updates have kept the line in demand with the U.S. military and allies abroad.

Now the Army wants a new breed of aircraft under its Future Vertical Lift concept. The call is for twice the speed and twice the range of the Black Hawk. And Sikorsky finds itself in a contentious battle with Bell Textron for two separate contracts.

First up is a contract for the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft. This is the one that is the direct replacement for the Black Hawk and it’s the deal Lemmo says Sikorsky has to win.

To maximize its chances, Sikorsky has brought in Boeing as a partner in developing the Defiant X. The ship has two top rotors that spin in opposite directions. A tail thruster adds power to achieve speeds that hit 300 mph.

The product is digital in every way. Blueprints have given way to 3D imaging on tablets. Computers control the torque of every fitting. Lemmo explains the future lies in being able to design, simulate and test a new aircraft before it hits the production floor.

He expresses confidence that Sikorsky has the winning formula. He says “the incredible workforce” is the special sauce.

Busy production line

While most of the world has been slowed by the pandemic, Sikorsky has been growing. About 1,000 jobs were filled in 2020 and another 600 were filled in the first nine months of 2021, he said.

The “Great Resignation” hasn’t hit Sikorsky, but retirements have. The company is making a push to recruit a younger generation of STEM graduates while retaining the experienced hands, resulting in what Lemmo describes as a “bifurcated” workforce.

While taking pains not to denigrate his rival’s design, Lemmo points out that Bell Textron, part of the Rhode Island-based Textron conglomerate, has no recent helicopter experience with the Army. Also, Bell Textron’s fixed-wing, tilt-engine aircraft would require redesigning every hangar and forward-placement arrangement.

In contrast, Sikorsky has a long history providing helicopters to the Army. Also, the Defiant X has the same footprint as the Black Hawk, meaning no facility changes would be necessary.

The Defiant X prototype has been developed in West Palm Beach, Florida, largely because of weather considerations, Lemmo explains. In Stratford, a staff of nearly 500 has been doing design and engineering work.

If Defiant X wins the contract, design and engineering work would continue for the rest of the decade. New supplier contracts would be negotiated. Early in the 2030s, production would begin in Connecticut, where Sikorsky has already invested $600 million in plant upgrades, a sizable step in an expected $1 billion investment not tied to Defiant X.

If the contract goes to Bell Textron, the screeching of brakes will be heard in Stratford almost immediately and the impact will slowly ripple through the Connecticut economy.

In any case, the Stratford production line will be busy for the rest of this decade churning out CH-53Ks designed for the Marines. A  contract calls for production of 200 units. Israel also has purchased a fleet.

There’s also a constant stream of updates and parts for Black Hawks, which likely will remain in service until about 2050. And there is still work to be done finishing an order of 23 VH-92A helicopters for presidential and vice-presidential use.

But by about 2030, the production line will be slowing.

The future isn’t as clear for the design and engineering team, which is about done with its work on the CH-53K. If Defiant X won’t fly, Plan B lies with the Raider X. It’s Sikorsky’s entrant in the race for the other Army Future Vertical Lift contract, expected to be awarded in late 2023 or early 2024.

That concept calls for a lighter attack reconnaissance aircraft and the design/engineering team will be busy on fine-tuning the specifics of Raider X in 2022. For one thing, at 12,000 pounds, it’s less than half the weight of the 33,000-pound Defiant X.

Again, Bell Textron is the rival, although its offering is a more conventional helicopter design.

Lemmo acknowledged a split decision on the two contracts is a real possibility as is a lengthy legal challenge mounted by the unsuccessful bidder on the first contract.

Lemmo sees the Raider X contract as additive. A win would supercharge the Connecticut operation, but a loss would only be a missed opportunity, rather than the crushing blow of a loss on Defiant X.

Although he has only about a year in the Sikorsky role, the 55-year-old Lemmo knows the ins and outs of Lockheed Martin. That’s an important consideration in fighting for resources to expand, or fighting for other work to avoid cutbacks.

He joined Lockheed in 1987 in an engineering role. He worked his way up through roles in sensors and most recently, he has held key corporate positions as vice president of sensors and global sustainment and senior vice president of corporate strategy and business development.

He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Drexel University and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania.