Drawing upon its recently-developed S-70 helicopter, it features twin turboshaft engines, four-bladed main and tail rotors, and retractable landing gear.

The company had set the design goal of producing a medium helicopter suitable for corporate transportation and the oil drilling industry.

[8] On 21 November 1978, initial US Federal Aviation Administration type certification was granted, while the first customer delivery took place on 27 February 1979.

[8] During the early 2000s, the S-76C+ was the main version in production; it was equipped with twin Turbomeca Arriel 2S1 engines with FADEC and a Honeywell EFIS suite.

On 3 January 2006, the S-76 C++ replaced earlier versions in production; it is powered by twin Turbomeca Arriel 2S2 engines and incorporates an improved and quieter transmission as well as minor changes in the interior equipment and avionics.

[citation needed] Development of the follow-on S-76D was subject to four years of delays due to technical problems in expanding the flight envelope.

On 7 February 2009, the prototype conducted its first flight, and type certification was initially expected during 2011 while deliveries were forecast to start at the end of that year.

The "D" model is powered by 1,050 hp (783 kW) Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210S engines driving composite rotors and incorporates active vibration control.

Performance is substantially improved with the added power, but initial certification retains the same 11,700 lb (5,307 kg) gross weight and maximum 155 kn (287 km/h) cruise speed as earlier models.

This move effectively ended production of the S-76 following the completion of the three orders that were outstanding, and represented a withdrawal by Sikorsky from the medium commercial helicopter market.

[5][9]: 114  The main rotor blades have titanium spars and incorporate a ten degree twist to provide an even loading when hovering, while they use a non-symmetrical airfoil section with a drooped leading edge.

[9]: 114,116  A retractable nosewheel undercarriage is fitted, the reduced drag from this arrangement is credited with increasing the S-76A's cruising speed by 6 knots (6.9 mph; 11 km/h).

Emergency flotation gear can be fitted, which uses helium-filled bags to increase buoyancy in the event of a forced landing on water.

[14] The S-76 was not originally designed with crashworthy fuel systems, leading to difficulties continuing production after an FAA requirement was implemented in April 2020.

[citation needed] During the campaigning in the run up to the 2005 United Kingdom general election, both the Labour and the Conservative parties dispensed with conventional 'battle buses' in favour of S-76 helicopters to quickly transport their leaders around the British Isles.

The highly-modified S-76 SHADOW (Sikorsky Helicopter Advance Demonstrator of Operators Workload) was built to demonstrate its advanced cockpit for single-pilot operations and to study the human engineering interface between the pilot and the cockpit controls and displays; this was in aid of the RAH-66 Comanche armed reconnaissance helicopter programme.