Textron's Bell has won the US Army’s competition to build the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA), set to at least partially replace the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter which has been in service for more than four decades.
Bell’s V-280 Valor tilt-rotor design was announced the winner of the FLRAA competition on 5 December, beating the Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant X.
The US Army initiated the FLRAA program in 2019 as part of its Future Vertical Lift (FVL) initiative to replace a portion of its assault and utility helicopter fleet. The FVL program is intended to replace some of the 2,000 Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters and 1,200 Boeing AH-64 1,200 Apache attack helicopters from around 2030, according to Defense News.
“I am excited to be part of this momentous day for our Army,” said Doug Bush, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology. “The thoughtful and disciplined execution of the FLRAA program strategy will deliver the transformational capabilities we need to support the Joint force, strengthen deterrence and win in multi-domain operations.”
“This down-select represents a strategic pivot for Army Aviation to the transformational speed and range our Army needs to dominate future battlefields,” said Major General Walter Rugen, director of the Future Vertical Lift Cross-Functional Team. “The prototyping and risk-reduction efforts allowed the Army to significantly reduce the time needed to get to today’s announcement.”
FLRAA will 'expand the depth of the battlefield by extending the reach of air assault missions and enabling ground forces to converge through decentralised operations at extended distances’, the US Army said in a press release. FLRAA’s 'inherent reach and standoff capabilities' are expected to ensure mission success through tactical manoeuvre at operational and strategic distances, the release said.
“I am very proud of the entire team and our aviation enterprise partners," said Major General Robert Barrie, Program Executive Officer, Aviation. “They've worked diligently to ensure that the Army delivers a new, vertical lift capability that meets its modernisation objectives.”
The deal for the next-generation helicopter could be worth as much as $1.3 billion, according to Reuters.
The other component of the FVL program is the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) which will replace the US Army’s long-retired Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed reconnaissance helicopters. Contenders are the Bell 360 Invictus and Sikorsky Raider X.