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

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

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 military utility helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted a design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS ...

utility helicopter A utility helicopter is a multi-purpose helicopter capable of pursuing a wide array of tasks. They have proven useful in both civilian and military operations, with versatility being their defining trait. Civilian Helicopters play a crucial ...

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

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. 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, United States as well as commercial heli ...

V-280 Valor powered by Rolls-Royce engines for the FLRAA contract award. The award was protested by the Sikorsky-Boeing team, however the

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denied the protest.

Design goals

According to the RFI, the Army has set a per-unit cost goal of $43 million (in 2018 dollars). The Army envisions combat scenarios where a future scout helicopter being developed under the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (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

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 Afr ...

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 20 ...

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

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

Bell V-280 Valor The Bell V-280 Valor, officially designated MV-75, is a tiltrotor aircraft being developed by Bell Helicopter for the United States Army's Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program. The aircraft was officially unveiled at the 2013 Army Aviation Associat ...

and the

Sikorsky–Boeing SB-1 Defiant The Sikorsky–Boeing SB-1 Defiant (stylized as "SB>1"; company designation S-100) was 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 ...

, 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 would proceed to complete conceptual designs and explain how the FLRAA requirements were met by the Valor and Defiant candidate designs, respectively. On 8 February 2024 the US Army ended development of FARA,Jen Judso
(8 February 2024) US Army spent billions on a new helicopter that now will never fly
while FLRAA development is continuing.Ashley Rocqu
(8 February 2024) Army cancels FARA helicopter program, makes other cuts in major aviation shakeup
/ref> FLRAA passed Milestone B in the acquisition process in August 2024.Ashley Rocqu
(2 Aug 2024) Milestone B: Army’s FLRAA tiltrotor graduates to engineering and manufacturing development phase

References

{{reflist

External links

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