A few snippets from Flight about the Sikorsky Lynx submission for the LAMPS competition.
August 1970
Westland's Lamps Proposal Sikorsky Aircraft Division of United Aircraft Corp and Westland Aircraft
jointly announced on July 22 that they were negotiating an agreement for a marketing programme
to present the Westland WG.13 in the United States as Sikorsky's candidate for the US Navy's proposed
light airborne multi-purpose system (Lamps).
Also:
The US Navy's Lamps requirement for an off-the-shelf utility helicopter is proving difficult to satisfy
because of the restricted hangar size (26ft) available on destroyers. The Bolkow 105 is too small to
satisfy the requirement, while two WG.13s cannot be accommodated without structure-folding.
January 1971
General Electric is negotiating with Rolls-Royce Small Engine Division for the licence to build the
RS.360 turboshaft engine. The application is the WG.13 helicopter, being submitted by Sikorsky
for the US Navy's Lamps competition.
[ Note: RS.360 is correct, that being the commercial designation for the BS.360-07 engine ]
June 1971
Sikorsky is very pleased with the performance of the Lynx and its BS.360 powerplants, although United
Aircraft is pushing very hard for two PT6s to be fitted for the Lamps competition.
[ There was then a long gap as the US Navy contracted Kaman to supply Interim LAMPS Seasprites ]
January 1977
Sikorsky and disappointed Uttas contender Boeing Vertol will square up again in the US Navy competition
for a new anti-submarine warfare helicopter, the Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System (Lamps) Mk 3. That
competition, to be decided by April, involves both Uttas entries and the Westland Lynx. The winner will
produce 204 helicopters.
September 1977
[ By this point Westland appears to have been running its own bid, though how production would be arranged is not specified ]
The losers in the competition are Westland Helicopters, whose offer of an off-the-shelf Lynx was earlier
turned down by the USN on the grounds that the helicopter was too small, and Avco Lycoming. The engine
manufacturer was included in the competition at a late stage to allow evaluation of a version of the engine
used in the XM-1 tank.