Army selects companies to continue competition to design new long-range assault helicopters and avionics
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Army has selected Bell Textron Inc. in Fort Worth, Texas, and Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford, Conn., to build competing helicopters for the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA). Defense News reports. Continue reading original article
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
1 April 2020 -- The companies will deliver initial conceptual designs for aircraft and avionics, an assessment of the feasibility of requirements and trade studies using model-based systems engineering. The competition for the program of record will begin in 2022 with a plan to field the first unit equipped in 2030.
Congress added $76 million in funding to the aircraft program’s top line in fiscal 2020 to drive down technical risk and speed up delivery. The money, which Congress approved as part of its 2020 appropriations bill signed into law in December, will fund the CDRR effort.
The Army completed its Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstration, or JMR TD, for which Bell and the Sikorsky-Boeing team each built aircraft to help the service understand what is possible for a future aircraft — mainly to replace the UH-60 Black Hawk.
John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics
