If you want a helicopter to be faster and more efficient in forward flight, why not just give it some wings for added aerodynamic lift, and a set of propellers (aka lateral rotors) for forward thrust? That was the thinking behind the Eurocopter X3 demonstrator aircraft. This Tuesday at the Paris Air Show, Airbus Helicopters announced its plans to build on that concept, in the form of the code-named Rapid And Cost-Effective Rotorcraft – or Racer, for short.

Being developed as part of Europe's multi-organization Clean Sky 2 initiative, Racer is described as being "the best trade-off between speed, cost-efficiency, sustainability and mission performance."