The helicopter will be slightly longer than a C-130 Hercules, and have a cargo bay capable of loading seven standard 463L pallets, a loaded HEMTT truck, a fully equipped armored gun system or two combat ready Light Armored Vehicles (LAVs). It will also have single, dual and triple cargo hooks for sling loading.

Both JHL and HSL will be powered by the X2 coaxial rotor system developed by Sikorsky Aircraft. They will be capable of hovering, takeoff and land vertically, maneuver at low speeds, and transition seamlessly from hover to forward flight like a helicopter. In a high-speed configuration, one or more 'pusher props' is included in an integrated auxiliary propulsion system to enable high speed with no need to physically reconfigure the aircraft in flight.

In September 2005 Sikorsky Aircraft has been awarded two US government contracts to perform conceptual, preliminary design for two X2 Technology heavy-lift coaxial rotorcraft. The Concept Design and Analysis (CDA) awards from the U.S. Army's Applied Aviation Technology Directorate (AATD) are in direct support of evaluating joint requirements and Joint Heavy Lift (JHL) rotorcraft for the U.S. armed forces.