US Army faces key decisions to advance future vertical lift aircraft programs
By Jen Judson
Mar 31, 08:00 AM
WASHINGTON — The Army is nearing critical points on its path to fielding two Future Vertical Lift (FVL) aircraft, according to Army officials in charge of the efforts.
The service plans to field both a Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) and a Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) by 2030.
The Army is expected to choose this summer one company to build FLRAA; prototypes are due to the service by 2025.
And the service has overcome some minor delays assembling its first next-generation engine that will not only upgrade current attack and utility helicopters but will also power FARA. Two industry teams are building prototypes now and waiting to receive those new engines to next year compete those aircraft in a fly-off.
Bell and a Sikorsky-Boeing team have been locked in the competition to build FLRAA for several years. Bell’s offering is the V-280 Valor tiltrotor and the Sikorsky-Boeing team’s is the Defiant X coaxial aircraft — two very different airframe designs.
https://www.armytimes.com/land/2022/03/31/us-army-faces-key-decisions-to-advance-future-vertical-lift-aircraft-programs/
