JMR (Joint Multi-Role) & FVL (Future Vertical Lift) Programs
- Thread starter Grey Havoc
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Are we sure it isn't? There are boots on the rotors that make it unclear whether the usual hinges are there or not.
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">May 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
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For those of you poo pooing AVX Aircraft and their proposals...
https://breakingdefense.com/2019/05/fara-why-avx-has-shot-at-army-scout/
https://breakingdefense.com/2019/05/fara-why-avx-has-shot-at-army-scout/
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Notice that reading the crash investigation report, it does not seem as an evidence that both stacked rotors collided. The bank angle (software glitch) and ground proximity might be a more accurate explanation than blades lacking rigidity.
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At the presentation they said that they decided against a new rotor on the grounds of cost.
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Yeah, understandable, especially given the speed they think they can hit without it. I still suspect the boots are new, for drag reduction (and maybe signature reduction as well?)
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Breaking Defense with an article that pairs well with fredymac's video: Bell says it’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor has met the Army’s requirement for low-speed, low-altitude agility, at least equaling the UH-60 Black Hawk it’s contending to replace.
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The Army does not want a sports car. They want a pickup truck. ...maybe mud tires and a roll bar.
That said Bell has been doing like two or three flights a week, consistently. Hard to argue with "they are flying".
That said Bell has been doing like two or three flights a week, consistently. Hard to argue with "they are flying".
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Also on the Drive, interview with:
www.thedrive.com
We Talk Everything S-97 Raider And SB>1 Defiant With Sikorsky's Top Program Officials
Sikorsky is betting huge on its X2 technology, but there's still much to understand about it and how they see it as the future of vertical lift.
www.thedrive.com
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Mr. Warwick's splendid article this weeks AW&ST.
U.S. Army Seeks Accelerated Fielding Of Next-Generation Rotorcraft
May 23, 2019 Graham Warwick | Aviation Week & Space Technology
The U.S. Army has been criticized for operating essentially the same helicopters for decades. But this has worked—until now. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq showed the limitations of machines developed in the 1960s and ’70s, but the pivot to face a peer threat has convinced the Army it can no longer make do.
The result is a sudden sense of urgency behind the Pentagon’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) initiative to develop a new generation of rotorcraft. The Army wants to field a new armed scout by 2028 and an assault transport by 2030—and it is willing to make sacrifices to get them, trimming requirements and forgoing upgrades to its current helicopters.
- New armed scout planned by 2028 via rapid acquisition
- Aim is to also accelerate assault aircraft program to field by 2030
“We have reached an inflection point. The overmatch we desire will not exist if we keep incrementally upgrading our fleet,” Col. Robert Barrie, military deputy to the Army program executive officer for aviation, told the Vertical Flight Society’s Forum 75 convention in Philadelphia on May 16.
But FVL was conceived as a joint effort, and the Army’s new-found urgency is putting a strain on the original concept of finding common solutions to the needs of multiple branches of the military for new rotorcraft.
The problem is the threat. To stand any chance of surviving against China’s integrated air defense systems (IADS), Army rotorcraft will need the speed and range to deploy from relative sanctuary and conduct deep air assaults without much security, says Col. Matt Isaacson, operations officer in the FVL Cross-Functional Team (CFT) within Army Futures Command.
Futures Command was established in 2018 to realize the Army’s modernization priorities, of which FVL ranks third on the list. First is Long-Range Precision Fires—new missile-delivered munitions that are an essential part of the Army’s plan to breach enemy defenses and allow its rotorcraft onto the battlefield.
The FVL CFT’s top priority is the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA), seen as the true heir to the armed scout role that was once performed by the Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior but is now being fulfilled by Boeing AH-64E Apaches teamed with Textron RQ-7BV2 Shadow unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
The Army is moving fast with FARA, using the Other Transaction Authority for Prototype (OTAP) procurement mechanism to complete a competitive flyoff between two production-representative designs at the end of fiscal 2023, launch development in 2024 and field aircraft by 2028. “Schedule is king,” says Dan Bailey, FARA Competitive Prototype program manager.
Bell’s V-280 tiltrotor has met its agility goals in a bid to replace the UH-60 helicopter. Credit: Bell
Now the Army wants to move faster with its second aviation priority: the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) to replace its Sikorsky UH-60M/V Black Hawk medium utility helicopters. Unlike FARA, FLRAA has long been planned as a traditional DOD 5000 procurement. But now the Army wants to accelerate the program.
When it formed, the CFT had two areas of concern with the program. First, it would not equip the initial unit with aircraft until 2034. “It was late to need,” says Col. Steve Clark, FLRAA program manager. Second, it would leave a gap between completion of the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstration (JMR TD) at the end of fiscal 2019 and the beginning of technology maturation and risk reduction (TMRR) under a program of record in 2023.
“That was an undesirable outcome that would idle the industry and government organizations involved,” Clark says. But, after six months of work, “we have set the conditions to change both,” he notes.
The Army is seeking funds in fiscal 2020 to continue flight-testing the Bell V-280 Valor advanced tiltrotor and Sikorsky/Boeing SB-1 Defiant coaxial rigid-rotor compound helicopter under the JMR TD to close the gap. It also is seeking to accelerate FLRAA so as to deliver aircraft no later than 2030.
VIDEO:
Although industry says it is ready to move faster, it is not that easy. FLRAA, or more correctly FVL Capability Set 3, is a joint-service program that involves the U.S. Marine Corps and Special Operations Command (SOCOM). It is Army-led, but acquisition authority lies with the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD).
The Army hopes to learn in June whether the OSD will give it acquisition authority and allow it to accelerate FLRAA under a modified DOD 5000 acquisition process or some other tailored approach. “We believe we are uniquely positioned to accelerate the program,” says Clark, citing the progress made under the JMR TD.
The Marines might disagree. Their version of FLRAA is the Attack/Utility Replacement Aircraft (AURA), which is intended to replace both the Bell AH-1Z Viper and the UH-1Y Venom. The Marines participated with the Army and SOCOM in the analysis of alternatives, delivering the final report to the OSD on May 19.
“The Army’s requirement is much more urgent than the Marine Corps’, which is still building H-1s,” says Dave Baden, ARUA lead in the H-1 program office at Naval Air Systems Command. The Marine Corps cannot afford to move faster, he says, and its needs differ significantly in more than just timing.
The Army is looking for a maximum cruise speed of 250-280 kt. and an unrefueled combat radius of 200-300 nm with 12 troops. The Marines want a dash speed of 300-330 kt. and a 450-nm radius with 10 troops. Their driving requirement is armed escort for the Bell Boeing MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor. The H-1 is too slow, so the Marines must use their scarce Lockheed Martin F-35Bs as escorts, says Baden.
The Marines want AURA to not only keep up with the 275-kt. MV-22 but be able to get to the landing zone ahead of the Ospreys to provide defensive support, or to divert en route to deal with an objective before catching up with the tiltrotors.
Designed for a 280-kt. cruise speed, Bell’s V-280 has exceeded 300 kt. in tests. The SB-1 is designed for at least 250 kt. but could go faster with more power. The upper limit is “certainly [faster than] 250 kt., and it is certainly less than 400,” says Randy Rotte, Boeing’s vice president of business development for FVL. “It is not so much what the configuration can do; it is how much power I put in there.”
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCOfokeEX2khttps://youtu.be/...
“We are willing to see how development proceeds and if the requirements can align. If it is not achievable, then we can build that technology into a Marine version,” says Baden. “We are trying to see if we can get to a common aircraft or, if not, how to build off the technology each [team] is developing.”
FARA could also be a joint program, and the requirements document has annexes for SOCOM and the U.S. Coast Guard. “We have asked industry to keep that in mind, but the Army has the near-term need, and the first increment [of FARA] is for the Army mission,” says Bailey. “The first development effort is very Army-centric.”
To meet its aggressive schedule, the Army is deliberately limiting its requirements. Elements required are size, speed and affordability—a maximum rotor diameter of 40 ft., target mission takeoff gross weight of 14,000 lb., minimum cruise speed of 180 kt. and a flyaway cost no greater than $30 million. The desired attributes, including a mission radius greater than 135 nm, are all tradeable, Bailey says.
FARA has to be powered by the 3,000-shp Improved Turbine Engine and armed with a 20-mm gun and the Integrated Munitions Launcher carrying “Air-Launched Effects”—the Army’s term for air-dropped small UAS—all government-furnished. A modular open systems architecture is required to enable easy upgrades and is likely to come from the JMR Mission System Architecture Demonstration.
The Army sees FARA at the center of its IADS breach team, which includes long-range fires and air-launched UAS. Size is driven by survivability and the ability to hide in the radar clutter and fly between, rather than over, buildings in urban conflicts. Cost is based on that of the AH-64E, which FARA is intended to replace in the armed reconnaissance role.
Boeing is testing a compound configuration for an “affordable” upgrade to the AH-64E. Credit: Boeing
Schedule is paramount, and the Army wants competitive prototyping to be as close as possible to a TMRR phase without being in a program of record, with the follow-on qualification phase limited to integrating mission equipment—still under an “other transactions” rapid acquisition. “We will build hooks into OTAP to continue the program,” says Bailey, adding: “Congress has allowed us to do things differently.”
But this speed has consequences for the current fleet. Army officials at the convention cautioned that the service does not have the budget to both pursue FVL and upgrade its existing helicopters beyond the planned reengining of the AH-64 and UH-60 with ITE. Boeing has completed initial wind-tunnel tests of a compound-helicopter version of an upgraded “Block II” AH-64E with 185-kt. cruise and 450-nm range—echoing the FARA requirements—but program officials acknowledge the fiscal constraints.
Most controversially, in order to fund FVL, the 2020 budget delays the Block II upgrade to Boeing’s CH-47F, and Army Secretary Mark Esper is challenging industry to come up with a better heavy-lift solution. “Is it a Block II or a Block IV, V or VI? I don’t know,” he says. “I think in two or three years we’ll have a better idea of where we are as far as developing [FARA and FLRAA], and that will drive the decision [on Chinook],” says Gen. James McConville, Army vice chief of staff.
—With Steve Trimble and Lee Hudson in Washington
U.S. Army Seeks Accelerated Fielding Of Next-Generation Rotorcraft
May 23, 2019 Graham Warwick | Aviation Week & Space Technology
The U.S. Army has been criticized for operating essentially the same helicopters for decades. But this has worked—until now. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq showed the limitations of machines developed in the 1960s and ’70s, but the pivot to face a peer threat has convinced the Army it can no longer make do.
The result is a sudden sense of urgency behind the Pentagon’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) initiative to develop a new generation of rotorcraft. The Army wants to field a new armed scout by 2028 and an assault transport by 2030—and it is willing to make sacrifices to get them, trimming requirements and forgoing upgrades to its current helicopters.
- New armed scout planned by 2028 via rapid acquisition
- Aim is to also accelerate assault aircraft program to field by 2030
“We have reached an inflection point. The overmatch we desire will not exist if we keep incrementally upgrading our fleet,” Col. Robert Barrie, military deputy to the Army program executive officer for aviation, told the Vertical Flight Society’s Forum 75 convention in Philadelphia on May 16.
But FVL was conceived as a joint effort, and the Army’s new-found urgency is putting a strain on the original concept of finding common solutions to the needs of multiple branches of the military for new rotorcraft.
The problem is the threat. To stand any chance of surviving against China’s integrated air defense systems (IADS), Army rotorcraft will need the speed and range to deploy from relative sanctuary and conduct deep air assaults without much security, says Col. Matt Isaacson, operations officer in the FVL Cross-Functional Team (CFT) within Army Futures Command.
Futures Command was established in 2018 to realize the Army’s modernization priorities, of which FVL ranks third on the list. First is Long-Range Precision Fires—new missile-delivered munitions that are an essential part of the Army’s plan to breach enemy defenses and allow its rotorcraft onto the battlefield.
The FVL CFT’s top priority is the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA), seen as the true heir to the armed scout role that was once performed by the Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior but is now being fulfilled by Boeing AH-64E Apaches teamed with Textron RQ-7BV2 Shadow unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
The Army is moving fast with FARA, using the Other Transaction Authority for Prototype (OTAP) procurement mechanism to complete a competitive flyoff between two production-representative designs at the end of fiscal 2023, launch development in 2024 and field aircraft by 2028. “Schedule is king,” says Dan Bailey, FARA Competitive Prototype program manager.
Bell’s V-280 tiltrotor has met its agility goals in a bid to replace the UH-60 helicopter. Credit: Bell
Now the Army wants to move faster with its second aviation priority: the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) to replace its Sikorsky UH-60M/V Black Hawk medium utility helicopters. Unlike FARA, FLRAA has long been planned as a traditional DOD 5000 procurement. But now the Army wants to accelerate the program.
When it formed, the CFT had two areas of concern with the program. First, it would not equip the initial unit with aircraft until 2034. “It was late to need,” says Col. Steve Clark, FLRAA program manager. Second, it would leave a gap between completion of the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstration (JMR TD) at the end of fiscal 2019 and the beginning of technology maturation and risk reduction (TMRR) under a program of record in 2023.
“That was an undesirable outcome that would idle the industry and government organizations involved,” Clark says. But, after six months of work, “we have set the conditions to change both,” he notes.
The Army is seeking funds in fiscal 2020 to continue flight-testing the Bell V-280 Valor advanced tiltrotor and Sikorsky/Boeing SB-1 Defiant coaxial rigid-rotor compound helicopter under the JMR TD to close the gap. It also is seeking to accelerate FLRAA so as to deliver aircraft no later than 2030.
VIDEO:
Although industry says it is ready to move faster, it is not that easy. FLRAA, or more correctly FVL Capability Set 3, is a joint-service program that involves the U.S. Marine Corps and Special Operations Command (SOCOM). It is Army-led, but acquisition authority lies with the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD).
The Army hopes to learn in June whether the OSD will give it acquisition authority and allow it to accelerate FLRAA under a modified DOD 5000 acquisition process or some other tailored approach. “We believe we are uniquely positioned to accelerate the program,” says Clark, citing the progress made under the JMR TD.
The Marines might disagree. Their version of FLRAA is the Attack/Utility Replacement Aircraft (AURA), which is intended to replace both the Bell AH-1Z Viper and the UH-1Y Venom. The Marines participated with the Army and SOCOM in the analysis of alternatives, delivering the final report to the OSD on May 19.
“The Army’s requirement is much more urgent than the Marine Corps’, which is still building H-1s,” says Dave Baden, ARUA lead in the H-1 program office at Naval Air Systems Command. The Marine Corps cannot afford to move faster, he says, and its needs differ significantly in more than just timing.
The Army is looking for a maximum cruise speed of 250-280 kt. and an unrefueled combat radius of 200-300 nm with 12 troops. The Marines want a dash speed of 300-330 kt. and a 450-nm radius with 10 troops. Their driving requirement is armed escort for the Bell Boeing MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor. The H-1 is too slow, so the Marines must use their scarce Lockheed Martin F-35Bs as escorts, says Baden.
The Marines want AURA to not only keep up with the 275-kt. MV-22 but be able to get to the landing zone ahead of the Ospreys to provide defensive support, or to divert en route to deal with an objective before catching up with the tiltrotors.
Designed for a 280-kt. cruise speed, Bell’s V-280 has exceeded 300 kt. in tests. The SB-1 is designed for at least 250 kt. but could go faster with more power. The upper limit is “certainly [faster than] 250 kt., and it is certainly less than 400,” says Randy Rotte, Boeing’s vice president of business development for FVL. “It is not so much what the configuration can do; it is how much power I put in there.”
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCOfokeEX2khttps://youtu.be/...
“We are willing to see how development proceeds and if the requirements can align. If it is not achievable, then we can build that technology into a Marine version,” says Baden. “We are trying to see if we can get to a common aircraft or, if not, how to build off the technology each [team] is developing.”
FARA could also be a joint program, and the requirements document has annexes for SOCOM and the U.S. Coast Guard. “We have asked industry to keep that in mind, but the Army has the near-term need, and the first increment [of FARA] is for the Army mission,” says Bailey. “The first development effort is very Army-centric.”
To meet its aggressive schedule, the Army is deliberately limiting its requirements. Elements required are size, speed and affordability—a maximum rotor diameter of 40 ft., target mission takeoff gross weight of 14,000 lb., minimum cruise speed of 180 kt. and a flyaway cost no greater than $30 million. The desired attributes, including a mission radius greater than 135 nm, are all tradeable, Bailey says.
FARA has to be powered by the 3,000-shp Improved Turbine Engine and armed with a 20-mm gun and the Integrated Munitions Launcher carrying “Air-Launched Effects”—the Army’s term for air-dropped small UAS—all government-furnished. A modular open systems architecture is required to enable easy upgrades and is likely to come from the JMR Mission System Architecture Demonstration.
The Army sees FARA at the center of its IADS breach team, which includes long-range fires and air-launched UAS. Size is driven by survivability and the ability to hide in the radar clutter and fly between, rather than over, buildings in urban conflicts. Cost is based on that of the AH-64E, which FARA is intended to replace in the armed reconnaissance role.
Boeing is testing a compound configuration for an “affordable” upgrade to the AH-64E. Credit: Boeing
Schedule is paramount, and the Army wants competitive prototyping to be as close as possible to a TMRR phase without being in a program of record, with the follow-on qualification phase limited to integrating mission equipment—still under an “other transactions” rapid acquisition. “We will build hooks into OTAP to continue the program,” says Bailey, adding: “Congress has allowed us to do things differently.”
But this speed has consequences for the current fleet. Army officials at the convention cautioned that the service does not have the budget to both pursue FVL and upgrade its existing helicopters beyond the planned reengining of the AH-64 and UH-60 with ITE. Boeing has completed initial wind-tunnel tests of a compound-helicopter version of an upgraded “Block II” AH-64E with 185-kt. cruise and 450-nm range—echoing the FARA requirements—but program officials acknowledge the fiscal constraints.
Most controversially, in order to fund FVL, the 2020 budget delays the Block II upgrade to Boeing’s CH-47F, and Army Secretary Mark Esper is challenging industry to come up with a better heavy-lift solution. “Is it a Block II or a Block IV, V or VI? I don’t know,” he says. “I think in two or three years we’ll have a better idea of where we are as far as developing [FARA and FLRAA], and that will drive the decision [on Chinook],” says Gen. James McConville, Army vice chief of staff.
—With Steve Trimble and Lee Hudson in Washington
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Given how Boeing has been operating recently, I wouldn't be shocked to see the compound Apache offered at AH-64E pricing. I also don't think the Army should wait for the Marines. While the speed of the Sikorsky technology is scale-able based on power, what about the range? It seems to me the Marine requirement will lead to a marginally larger aircraft, which also means more cost. All the more reason the Army shouldn't wait for them.
marauder2048
"I should really just relax"
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HOGE is kryptonite to small wing compounds. What Warwick neglected to tell you is that Boeing needs a transmission
that doesn't exist to get anywhere close to meeting the Army's typical HOGE reqs.
that doesn't exist to get anywhere close to meeting the Army's typical HOGE reqs.
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@ Sundog - never underestimate the power of the bureaucracy. While the Army can get the FARA (scout) because no one else wants a aircraft of that mission size, the FLRAA aircraft is of a size that has a number of potential similar missions (F4 Phantom comes to mind) that will likely press OSD to push for a common air vehicle.
@ marauder2048 - I was thinking the same thing.
@ marauder2048 - I was thinking the same thing.
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Hmm... thought occurs to me that since the US Army still has a love of winged compound (from reading their aero-engineering papers)
it is not surprising that industry is showing what it thinks the Army wants to see (AVX FARA and now AH-64 compound).
it is not surprising that industry is showing what it thinks the Army wants to see (AVX FARA and now AH-64 compound).
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Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft passes through key requirements gauntlet
By: Jen Judson 2 hours ago
Bell Helicopter's V-280 Valor is part of the Joint-Multi Role demonstration being conducted ahead of the U.S. Army's Future Vertical Lift program of record. Mission systems are being incorporated into the FVL program in a separate effort. (Courtesy of Bell Helicopter)
WASHINGTON — The Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) has passed through the gauntlet of the Army Requirements Oversight Council (AROC), the one-star general in charge of the service’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) modernization efforts told Defense News.
FLRAA’s draft capabilities development document was approved by the AROC last week, Brig. Gen. Wally Rugen said in a brief interview at an Army Futures Command event held at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia, showcasing its progress executing the Army’s top six modernization priorities.
FVL is the third priority with Long-Range Precision Fires and Next-Generation Combat Vehicle pulling rank.
The Army is embarking on an ambitious plan to procure two major helicopters back-to-back to replace UH-60 Black Hawks, AH-64 Apaches and to fill a gap left open when the service retired its OH-85 Kiowa Warriors in 2014.
The service put out a request for information in April this year to gauge industry on the realm of the possible including the acceleration of FLRAA’s fielding schedule with a goal of delivering at least by fiscal year 2030.
Based on the AROC decision, industry feedback and the success of the science and technology program — the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) — Rugen said he foresees a good possibility of a “multiyear acceleration,” of the program.
Rugen declined to offer up more granularity on how many years the schedule might shrink because the plan was still moving up the chain of command for final approval.
FLRAA is a joint program and “other services have joined us in concurring with our approach. We are seeing a greater body of support, not just within the Army,” he added.
The service is planning to hold another industry day in Huntsville, Alabama, on July 31, to discuss requirements and capabilities. A Request for Project Proposals is expected to drop around the same time.
According to the RFI, the Army wants to award contracts in the fourth quarter of FY21 for preliminary designs with a review of those designs in the second quarter of FY23, a first flight in the third quarter of FY24, followed by a critical design review in the fourth quarter of FY24.
The plan, when the RFI released, was to get the first unit equipped in the second quarter of FY30.
The RFI asked for industry responses, specifically, to provide a detailed schedule that accelerates the fielding of FLRAA.
“FY20 is going to be a time when we fully leverage JMR success and really go from a tech demonstrator, which is an S&T effort, into a weapon system. We really want to understand from industry how can you make these advanced rotorcraft designs into a weapon system that we can fight," Rugen said.
By: Jen Judson 2 hours ago
Bell Helicopter's V-280 Valor is part of the Joint-Multi Role demonstration being conducted ahead of the U.S. Army's Future Vertical Lift program of record. Mission systems are being incorporated into the FVL program in a separate effort. (Courtesy of Bell Helicopter)
WASHINGTON — The Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) has passed through the gauntlet of the Army Requirements Oversight Council (AROC), the one-star general in charge of the service’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) modernization efforts told Defense News.
FLRAA’s draft capabilities development document was approved by the AROC last week, Brig. Gen. Wally Rugen said in a brief interview at an Army Futures Command event held at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia, showcasing its progress executing the Army’s top six modernization priorities.
FVL is the third priority with Long-Range Precision Fires and Next-Generation Combat Vehicle pulling rank.
The Army is embarking on an ambitious plan to procure two major helicopters back-to-back to replace UH-60 Black Hawks, AH-64 Apaches and to fill a gap left open when the service retired its OH-85 Kiowa Warriors in 2014.
The service put out a request for information in April this year to gauge industry on the realm of the possible including the acceleration of FLRAA’s fielding schedule with a goal of delivering at least by fiscal year 2030.
Based on the AROC decision, industry feedback and the success of the science and technology program — the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) — Rugen said he foresees a good possibility of a “multiyear acceleration,” of the program.
Rugen declined to offer up more granularity on how many years the schedule might shrink because the plan was still moving up the chain of command for final approval.
FLRAA is a joint program and “other services have joined us in concurring with our approach. We are seeing a greater body of support, not just within the Army,” he added.
The service is planning to hold another industry day in Huntsville, Alabama, on July 31, to discuss requirements and capabilities. A Request for Project Proposals is expected to drop around the same time.
According to the RFI, the Army wants to award contracts in the fourth quarter of FY21 for preliminary designs with a review of those designs in the second quarter of FY23, a first flight in the third quarter of FY24, followed by a critical design review in the fourth quarter of FY24.
The plan, when the RFI released, was to get the first unit equipped in the second quarter of FY30.
The RFI asked for industry responses, specifically, to provide a detailed schedule that accelerates the fielding of FLRAA.
“FY20 is going to be a time when we fully leverage JMR success and really go from a tech demonstrator, which is an S&T effort, into a weapon system. We really want to understand from industry how can you make these advanced rotorcraft designs into a weapon system that we can fight," Rugen said.
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The US Army has now opened up Phase 1 of the FLRAA competition, the competitive demonstration and risk reduction process. Industry participants have been asked to submit an initial aircraft conceptual design.
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/us-army-asks-for-flraa-conceptual-designs-460702/
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/us-army-asks-for-flraa-conceptual-designs-460702/
The ferry range is so impressive. Cross Atlantic deployment will be much easier and dynamic (no slow maritime shipping or sinking ressource into airfreight using heavily tasked C-5s).
It is now clear that with FLRAA the future of airmobility is blooming turning historical component into new Maginot lines.
It is now clear that with FLRAA the future of airmobility is blooming turning historical component into new Maginot lines.
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2440 NM is the California to Hawaii (2100 NM) with a 10 knot headwind. Planning for US to Central Europe using normal cruise speeds would be 2-3 days. You are still going to have to barrow a 767 to get all the maintainers and staff personnel of the unit across the pond to support, but that sure beats two months in (at risk) boats.
Natal (Brazil) to Dakar (Senegal) is only 1600+ nm. Enough for a fast deployment into the horn of Africa without any aerial refueling or stopover.
It's a major change in strategic deployment with the thousands of airframe programmed. And then draw a map and see how it impacts mobility inside Africa or Europe.
It's a major change in strategic deployment with the thousands of airframe programmed. And then draw a map and see how it impacts mobility inside Africa or Europe.
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The Army is looking for a long-range precision munition system for rotary and unmanned aircraft systems capable of engaging targets in adverse conditions. A Federal Business Opportunities notice states the service is looking for information on LRPM weapons systems "ready for qualification, production, and suitable for integration" on the aircraft systems, which will also be used to inform Air-Launched Effects "lethal requirements."
Air-Launched Effects, part of the Army's Future Vertical Lift modernization priority, will make aerial relays capable of being launched from aerial platforms. According to a March 2019 Army press release, Air-Launched Effects would be launched from current platforms or platforms still in development, such as the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft.
The LRPM weapon system requirements include integrated air defense systems, survivability against air defense and counter precision guided munition systems, range greater than 30 kilometers and adaptability to various network types.
Additionally, the system "should be able to engage stationary and moving targets in day and night conditions in adverse weather and GPS-denied environments with low collateral damage."
Responses are due Nov. 12 to the U.S. Army Contracting Command in Redstone Arsenal, AL.
Army seeking long-range precision munition system | InsideDefense.com
The Army is looking for a long-range precision munition system for rotary and unmanned aircraft systems capable of engaging targets in adverse conditions.
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The USMC have issued a request for information for its Attack Utility Replacement Aircraft (AURA) programme to replace the UH-1 and AH-1. AURA is piggybacking on FRLAA but their requirements are even greater; an un-refuelled combat radius of 450nm with a 30min loiter, maximum continuous cruise speed of 295kt at 90% maximum continuous power and 330kt iat 100% of intermediate-rated power. The attack variant should have high commonality with the utility variant.
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/a...high-speed-replacement-to-bell-uh-1-a-460970/
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/a...high-speed-replacement-to-bell-uh-1-a-460970/
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Now that's intersting...
breakingdefense.com
Bell Unveils Army Scout Helicopter - With Wings - Breaking Defense
With its trademark tiltrotors too big for the Army’s FARA requirement, Bell is squeezing every ounce of performance out of a helicopter. Will it be fast enough?
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I love Advanced AH-64 moreNow that's intersting...
Bell Unveils Army Scout Helicopter - With Wings - Breaking Defense
With its trademark tiltrotors too big for the Army’s FARA requirement, Bell is squeezing every ounce of performance out of a helicopter. Will it be fast enough?
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Cobra ❤ Comanche = Invictus
Sources:
www.flightglobal.com
Sources:
Bell reveals 360 Invictus proposal for US Army contest
Facing competitors who are pushing the envelope in terms of complexity and novelty, Bell has revealed that it is taking a more conventional route to its proposal for the US Army's Future Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) competition: a winged helicopter called the 360 Invictus.
www.flightglobal.com
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I love Advanced AH-64 moreNow that's intersting...
Bell Unveils Army Scout Helicopter - With Wings - Breaking Defense
With its trademark tiltrotors too big for the Army’s FARA requirement, Bell is squeezing every ounce of performance out of a helicopter. Will it be fast enough?
No reason there can't be both.
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Unexpected, for sure. Just a few months ago they seemed to be talking about a scaled-down 525, or something else conventionally configured, certainly nothing about a tandem-seat, winged, fenestron(!)-ed hot rod.
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Just for the record: RAH-66 had 39ft rotor diameter, 2330 kW installed power and a max speed of 175 kts
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What are the chances that Boeing's offer will be the new Comanche?
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I like the asymmetry of it. They learned a lot from the Comanche program and made the design easier to maintain and lower cost by having a single exhaust that will blow into the wash from the tail rotor to dissipate it's heat signature.
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What are the chances that Boeing's offer will be the new Comanche?
Zero.
