Army’s long-range tiltrotor aircraft moves to next development phase

The U.S. Army’s future long-range aircraft is moving out of technology development and into the critical engineering and manufacturing development phase, the service announced Friday.

The Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft program, or FLRAA, is estimated to be worth approximately $70 billion across its lifespan, including foreign military sales, and is set to replace roughly 2,000 Black Hawk utility helicopters.

The FLRAA will not serve as a one-for-one replacement for existing aircraft, but it is expected around 2030 to take over the roles of the Black Hawk, long the workhorse of the Army for getting troops to and around the battlefield.

The Textron Bell-designed FLRAA went through a successful preliminary design review in April and an Army Systems Acquisition Review Council in June.

“After reviewing FLRAA affordability, technological viability, threat projections and security, engineering, manufacturing, sustainment and cost risks, the [Army Systems Acquisition Review Council] confirmed that all sources of program risk have been adequately addressed for this phase of the program,” the Army statement reads.

The service will now be able to issue a contract option to Bell as it enters the engineering and manufacturing development phase, which, combined with the low-rate production phases, could be worth roughly $7 billion.

Textron Bell won the Army’s bid to build the FLRAA in late 2022 following a competition in which it and a Sikorsky-Boeing team flew technology demonstrators for several years to evaluate aircraft capabilities and drive out risk to a future program of record.

The FLRAA program’s initial unit has already been delayed by one year due to protests by Sikorsky’s parent company, Lockheed Martin, over the service’s choice of Textron Bell’s advanced tiltrotor design. Sikorsky and Boeing’s design featured coaxial rotor blades.

The Government Accountability Office rejected Lockheed’s protest in April 2023.

The Army will now equip the first unit with the capability in fiscal 2031. A limited user test is expected sometime in FY27 to FY28.

Reaching the engineering and manufacturing development phase is “an important step for FLRAA and demonstrates the Army’s commitment to our highest aviation modernization priority,” Doug Bush, the Army acquisition executive, said in the statement. “FLRAA will provide assault and MEDEVAC capabilities for the future Army, adding significantly increased speed, range, and endurance.”

The Army’s current fleet of helicopters will be incapable of meeting future distance requirements in places like the Indo-Pacific theater. The service wants the FLRAA to be capable of traveling roughly 2,440 nautical miles — or 2,810 miles — without refueling, but also be agile enough to maneuver troops into dangerous hot spots.

“Future battlefields require expanded [maneuvers], the ability to sustain and provide command and control across vast distances, and of course, evacuate our wounded,” Maj. Gen. Mac McCurry, the Army Aviation Center of Excellence commander, said in the statement. “All of these apply to both conventional and Special Operations Forces. With roughly twice the range and twice the speed, FLRAA brings unmatched combat capability to the Joint Force.”

The contract award in 2022 includes nine options — entering the engineering and manufacturing development phase means the Army will exercise the first option, under which Bell will deliver detailed aircraft design and build six prototypes.

The first aircraft in this phase is expected to fly in 2026, with low-rate initial production slated to begin in 2028.

“The Army will continue to review and refine the schedule as necessary based on the contract award and the latest program activities,” the statement notes.

The FLRAA program has set the standard for digital engineering from the beginning and has allowed for more rapid technology development and design.

“Using digital engineering as a key part of our ‘go slow to go fast’ approach has helped to accelerate the program by investing in requirements development up front,” said Col. Jeffrey Poquette, the service’s FLRAA project manager.