Army to compete Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) between Bell- and Boeing-Sikorsky-led teams
DUGWAY PROVING GROUND, Utah – U.S. Army officials have launched the service's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) competition, quietly releasing a request for proposals limited to two industry teams. The service has also homed-in on a schedule to deliver FLRAA prototypes after debating two different options to stay on schedule. Defense News reports. Continue reading original article
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
22 July 2021 -- Army officials weighed the option of pursuing both prototype builds for the airframe and the weapons systems at the same time, or on slightly separate schedules, which would have meant the difference between delivering full prototypes to the Army by the spring or the summer of 2025.
The Army will choose a winner — after a faceoff between Textron’s Bell and a Sikorsky-Boeing team — in winter or spring 2022. It appears the service is requiring prototype delivery to start summer 2025 and wrap up a year later.
It is unclear whether two separate preliminary design reviews will occur for the airframe and the weapons systems, or if they will be done concurrently. The Army scheduled a preliminary and detailed design review to take place from spring 2022 to winter 20224, but that timeline is not broken down further in budget documents.
John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics
