The Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program was initiated by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in 2019 to develop a successor to the

Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift Utility helicopter, utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted the S-70 design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transpo ...

utility helicopter A utility helicopter is a multi-purpose helicopter capable of fulfilling many different roles. Civil Many civilian helicopters are made for utility work such as agricultural aircraft. Many police and fire departments maintain and operate utili ...

as part of the

Future Vertical Lift Future Vertical Lift (FVL) is a plan to develop a family of military helicopters for the United States Armed Forces. Five different sizes of aircraft are to be developed, sharing common hardware such as sensors, avionics, engines, and counterm ...

program. The UH-60, developed in the early 1970s, has been in service since June 1979. Like the UH-60, FLRAA variants would also serve

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and the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

. Under the existing Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) program, the Army has been gathering data from flying prototype designs that could fill the FLRAA role. The Army posted a request for information (RFI) in April 2019, which was intended to identify interested manufacturers. According to the RFI, the Army plans to bring the FLRAA into service in 2030, in anticipation of retiring the UH-60 after a 50-year life. On December 5, 2022, the Army selected the

Bell Textron Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, as well as commercial helicopters in Mir ...

V-280 Valor The Bell V-280 Valor is a tiltrotor aircraft being developed by Bell Helicopter, Bell and Lockheed Martin for the United States Army's Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program.Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft The Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program was initiated by the United States Army in 2018 to develop a successor to the Bell OH-58 Kiowa scout helicopter as part of the Future Vertical Lift program. The OH-58 was retired in 2014; ...

(FARA) program and unmanned drones would control an area or corridor, which would then allow FLRAA to insert troops. FLRAA is intended to be more agile and faster than the existing UH-60. ;Notes

Competition history

FLRAA is part of the

(FVL) program; in 2016,

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

William Gayler William K. Gayler is a retired United States Army major general who last served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Africa Command from July 2020 to June 2021. Previously, he served as the Director of Operations of the United States Afri ...

declared the first FVL aircraft would fill the medium-lift role. The proposed FLRAA program schedule overlaps with the FARA procurement, which is also part of FVL. FARA would provide a light-lift helicopter for the armed reconnaissance/scout role that was previously filled by the

Bell OH-58 Kiowa The Bell OH-58 Kiowa is a family of single-engine single-rotor military helicopters used for observation, utility, and direct fire support. It was produced by the American manufacturer Bell Helicopter and is closely related to the Model 206A ...

until its retirement in 2014. On April 4, 2019, the Army released a formal request for information and outlined its proposed schedule for FLRAA: * Q4FY21 (Jul–Sep 2021): Award contract * Q2FY23 (Jan–Mar 2023): Preliminary design review * Q3FY24 (Apr–Jun 2024): First flight * Q4FY24 (Jul–Sep 2024): Critical design review * Q2FY30 (Jan–Mar 2030): First unit enters service The FVL program is headed by

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Wally Rugen Wally may refer to: Music * Wally (band), British prog rock band ** ''Wally'' (album), a 1974 album by Wally * ''La Wally'', an opera by Alfredo Catalani Other uses *Wally (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *WALLY, a propose ...

; according to Rugen, based on the data gathered during JMR-TD with the

Bell V-280 Valor The Bell V-280 Valor is a tiltrotor aircraft being developed by Bell and Lockheed Martin for the United States Army's Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program.

and the

Sikorsky–Boeing SB-1 Defiant The Sikorsky–Boeing SB-1 Defiant (stylized as "SB>1"; company designation S-100) is the Sikorsky Aircraft and Boeing entry for the United States Army's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft program to replace the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk. It is a ...

, the Army was ready to move on to open competition for the FLRAA contract. In March 2020, the Army awarded competitive demonstration contracts to Bell and Sikorsky/Boeing, who will proceed to complete conceptual designs and explain how the FLRAA requirements are met by the Valor and Defiant candidate designs, respectively.

References

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External links

Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA): solicitation
United States military helicopters Military aircraft procurement programs of the United States