Latest news with #FutureLong-RangeAssaultAircraft
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Army targets 2028 to deliver future assault aircraft to soldiers
NASHVILLE, Tenn. − The Army plans to accelerate the delivery of its first production-representative Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft to soldiers in 2028 by moving into low-rate production while still testing prototypes, Col. Jeffrey Poquette, the service's FLRAA program manager, told Defense News. Army leadership has tasked itself to accelerate the fielding of FLRAA as part of a newly debuted transformation initiative. And while speeding up any major procurement program contains substantial risk, Army aviation leaders and Textron's Bell, the company chosen to build the service's brand new advanced tiltrotor, say the program is unique in the sense that significant risk was driven down through digital design, engineering and a technology demonstration effort, where it flew the V-280 Valor tiltrotor for over 200 hours. 'Normally you would build prototypes, then you would go to test,' Poquette said. 'And during test, you're not doing a whole lot of building. You're testing the aircraft and you're building up a body of engineering work and results [ahead of] a Milestone C [production] decision.' Typically, programs are in testing with prototypes for roughly two years prior to production decisions. 'We're not going to accelerate testing. We're not going to accelerate design,' he said. 'They're already very compressed, but what we can do is assume a little bit of risk and say, well maybe we can build aircraft during test.' With the test effort going on in the background with the eight prototypes that will have already been built, Bell would begin building production aircraft, he said. In 2027, the Army plans to make an early production decision ahead of Milestone C. The service is able to do so because there is already an option built into the current contract with Bell to exercise a low-rate production lot. While concurrency — when a program chooses to produce systems before proving final design out through the testing program — has led to program delays and, in some cases, demise, Bell and the Army are confident this time is different. Bell has assured the Army that it is 'very confident' in its digital engineering to the point that, 'although it may not be perfect, it'll be pretty close,' Poquette said. 'It's a continuation of production from our prototypes into early production representative aircraft,' Ryan Ehinger, Bell's FLRAA program manager, said. 'And it's a second iteration. We did the [Joint Multirole Technology Demonstrator]. That was a one-off aircraft. We've been doing manufacturing development from then through now in some of these advanced manufacturing technologies and techniques.' Bell also builds critical components like the wing, the blades and the gear boxes, he added. 'We've got our manufacturing technology center that has been iterating for years on some of these designs,' he said. Another lever the Army plans to try to pull to accelerate fielding is completing full-rate production in four or five years rather than in seven or eight. 'What we're asking Bell to do is build capacity faster to get to a full-rate production,' Poquette said. 'That means we get a company a year earlier, but we get a battalion 18 months earlier and we get two battalions 30 months earlier.' While the original plan was to conduct the initial operational test program in late FY31, the Army could also be able to enter that phase more quickly because it will already have aircraft built, according to Poquette. The IOT&E could potentially begin in the FY28 or FY29 time period.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Here's who's getting the Army's first long-range assault aircraft
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The U.S. Army will field its first Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, commonly known as FLRAA, to the Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the Army vice chief of staff told an audience at the Army Aviation Association of America's annual conference Wednesday. 'That decision was based on their mission profile and theater demands,' Gen. James Mingus said in prepared remarks. 'This decision makes sense, the 101st is a formation built to deploy rapidly and operate in austere conditions. The 101st flies into real world contested environments, across wide terrain, often without the luxury of fixed support infrastructure. They need speed, endurance, and reliability.' The operational insights from that first fielding 'will shape initial doctrine, sustainment models, and maneuver concepts,' Mingus stated. 'And we're not waiting for a distant out-year to make this thing real. Under the Army Transformation Initiative, we are driving to get this aircraft online years ahead of schedule." When the Army will field these first aircraft remains to be seen, but the service has recently vowed to move faster to build and field the first FLRAA that is presently expected to be delivered in 2030. 'We expect to field the first aircraft in 2030 and that's according to the plan as it stands today,' Col. Jeffrey Poquette, the service's project manager for the program, told Defense News in an interview earlier this spring. He added that there 'are opportunities ... the Army is looking at to potentially see if we can go do something different and there's different risks for going faster.' Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George testified during a recent House Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing that he thinks the Army could move up the timeline to 2028. 'We're just figuring out what we can do by working with them on how we can pull it as far left,' George said. The service is finalizing its design for FLRAA by the end of the year that will ultimately take the place of UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters. Bell beat out Lockheed Martin's Sikorsky and a Boeing team following a competitive technology demonstration phase, in which each company built a flying demonstrator. Sikorsky and Boeing's Defiant X featured coaxial rotor blades. The design process for FLRAA, which will culminate in a critical design review either sometime toward the end of this fiscal year or in the beginning of the next, has allowed the Army to move much faster than in previous aircraft development programs, Poquette said. 'When we had our ... preliminary design review we got to see and have access to that design on a level we've never had, which is going to make for a much better CDR,' he said. 'We have a compressed test schedule. That's really where the benefits of digital engineering are going to pay off.'
Epoch Times
08-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
Army Presents Congress With Plan to Reorganize Fighting Forces, Adapt to Changing Battles
U.S. Army leaders fielded questions from lawmakers on May 7 over their latest plan to prepare the fighting force and streamline their processes for adopting new technology and weapons systems for future conflicts. Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll and Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George unveiled the Army Transformation Initiative in a May 1 While the Army pursues innovation and readiness, lawmakers are wary of backing costly new programs that don't fit the force's needs or eliminating legacy programs. Members of the House Appropriations Committee posed their questions and concerns about the initiative at a Wednesday oversight hearing. The Army is seeking new warfighting capabilities, including a long-range missile program, new drone and counter-drone technologies, and a new and more easily upgraded version of the Abrams tank. They're also working to advance the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft program, which is meant to succeed the Black Hawk helicopter. The Army also wants to add artificial intelligence to its command and control systems. Related Stories 5/2/2025 2/6/2025 Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) pressed the military leaders to consider canceled programs like the RAH-66 Comanche stealth attack helicopter and the troubled M10 Booker light tank program. 'These are the kinds of things that we have to avoid because we're in a resource-constrained environment,' Womack said. Driscoll described the Army Transformation Initiative as a way to escape the status quo of existing procurement methods. 'We're not proud of the outcome of the Booker, but what we are trying to do is not fall prey to sunk cost fallacy, where, because we have invested all of these dollars into this machine that turned out to be inadequate, we're going to keep purchasing it,' the Army Secretary said. 'Instead, what we want to do is be completely transparent.' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, directing the Army's force reforms, recently House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa De Lauro (D-Conn.) questioned the Army's plans for its Black Hawk helicopters. She referred to the Black Hawk, which entered service in 1979, as 'The Army's vertical lift platform par excellence' and noted that her state is a key manufacturing base for the program. Driscoll responded that the Black Hawk doesn't have enough range or speed to be effective in some theaters of potential conflict, such as the Indo-Pacific region. George said the Army will retire some older Black Hawk versions and consider new systems to fill the helicopter's many current mission roles. De Lauro called their comments about the Black Hawk 'very troubling.' At another point in the hearing, Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) questioned whether a plan to downsize the Army's armored vehicle units and adopt more high-mobility formations would leave soldiers reliant on vehicles with less protective armor. George replied that the Army will continue to take a mixed approach with its land vehicles and infantry combat formations. He noted that certain larger armored vehicles provide greater protection, but are less mobile and more easily trapped. 'They get stuck. When you get stuck, you're also a target,' the Army chief of staff said. 'So I think it's a mix, and that's what we're looking at inside of our formations.'
Newsweek
30-04-2025
- Automotive
- Newsweek
New US Army Helicopter Could Fly Twice As Fast As A Black Hawk
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The U.S. Army is close to finalizing the design of a new helicopter intended to replace the iconic Black Hawk, and it's built to fly nearly twice as fast and twice as far. Developed by Bell, the new aircraft—known as the V-280 Valor—is part of the Army's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program. The Valor uses a tiltrotor system, similar to the V-22 Osprey, which allows it to take off vertically like a helicopter and cruise like a plane. It's expected to reach speeds of over 280 knots (about 320 mph) and cover up to 400 nautical miles, far beyond the capabilities of the UH-60 Black Hawk it will eventually replace. The Army selected Bell's design in late 2022 after a competitive demonstration phase in which both Bell and a team from Sikorsky and Boeing built and flew prototypes. The Sikorsky-Boeing entry, the Defiant X, featured a coaxial rotor system. Bell ultimately secured the contract. The Black Hawk has served the U.S. Army for over four decades—now it's set to be replaced by a faster, longer-range aircraft. The Black Hawk has served the U.S. Army for over four decades—now it's set to be replaced by a faster, longer-range aircraft. AP Photo Since then, the Army has been working closely with Bell to complete the design phase. According to Lieutenant General Wally Rugen, the Army's deputy chief of staff for aviation, the design is expected to be finalized by this summer. Bell will then begin building flight test vehicles, with test flights planned to begin in fiscal year 2026. Colonel Jeffrey Poquette, the Army's project manager for the program, said Bell's use of digital engineering tools has allowed the Army to follow the aircraft's development in real-time—something not possible in past programs. That level of access has helped speed up the process, which is a key goal for the Army as it looks to modernize its aviation fleet. The new aircraft is designed to carry out the same kinds of missions as the Black Hawk—transporting troops and equipment into combat zones—but with greater range, speed, and survivability. The Army plans to begin fielding the Valor by 2030 as part of a broader strategy to modernize its vertical lift capabilities. Sikorsky and Boeing, despite not being selected for FLRAA, continue to work on other advanced aircraft under the Army's aviation modernization plans. This marks one of the Army's most significant helicopter development efforts in decades—and a major step toward reshaping how it operates in future conflicts.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US Army finalizing future aircraft design with hopes to field faster
The U.S. Army is working toward finalizing its design by the end of the year for the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft that will ultimately replace the UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter, as the service hopes to speed up its fielding to earlier than 2030, according to the project manager in charge of the effort. The service has had 'unprecedented access to the design [in] real time' of FLRAA through Bell's rigorous digital engineering, Col. Jeffrey Poquette, the service's project manager for the program, said in a recent interview. The Army chose the Textron subsidiary at the end of 2022 to build a tiltrotor aircraft that is expected to fly twice as fast and twice as far as a Black Hawk. Bell beat out a Lockheed Martin's Sikorsky and Boeing team following a competitive technology demonstration phase where each built a flying demonstrator. Sikorsky and Boeing's Defiant X featured coaxial rotor blades. The design process for FLRAA, which will culminate in a critical design review either sometime toward the end of this fiscal year or in the beginning of the next, has allowed the Army to move much faster than in previous aircraft development programs, Poquette said. 'When we had our ... preliminary design review we got to see and have access to that design on a level we've never had, which is going to make for a much better CDR,' he said, and 'we have a compressed test schedule. That's really where the benefits of digital engineering are going to pay off.' Essentially, the process allows the Army and Bell to build prototypes in the engineering manufacturing and development phase that 'are as close to what we want as possible,' Poquette said. The Army is planning to compress a test schedule that historically has taken anywhere from four to even 10 years in other vertical lift aviation programs to just a two-year period, according to Poquette. 'We're not going to find big, expensive things. We're not going to find safety things. We're going to find small things that we have to tweak,' he said. 'We found things in PDR, and they fixed it, and now we know that we're going to have the architecture right to meet [the modular open system architecture] and that kind of thing.' Bell has established a special systems integration lab, or SIL, for FLRAA in Arlington, Texas, to continue to develop and check out aircraft design and behaviors. 'Every mission that the test aircraft will fly will be first flown in the SIL,' Ryan Ehringer, Bell's FLRAA program manager, said in the same interview. The SIL will be coupled with 200-plus flight hours in Bell's V-280 Valor tiltrotor demonstrator through a competitive Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) program built to drive down risk for the future aircraft. This approach, when joined by a variety of other subsystem testing efforts, 'reduces risk tremendously,' Ehringer said. The Army also believes it has the buy-in necessary from the current presidential administration to continue to progress with the program, even demonstrating capability for new Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll at a joint capstone experimentation event in California called Project Convergence earlier this year. 'We expect to field the first aircraft in 2030 and that's according to the plan as it stands today,' Poquette said, adding that there 'are opportunities ... the Army is looking at to potentially see if we can go do something different and there's different risks for going faster.'
