After two years of intensive digital engineering, in 2022 the Army will pick either a Bell tiltrotor or a Sikorsky-Boeing compound helicopter to replace the UH-60 Black Hawk.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Before manned aircraft enter hostile airspace, three different types of drones – long-range, tactical, and miniaturized – will rip open the seams in the enemy’s defenses.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Zoom in on the Sikorsky-Boeing and Bell contenders to replace the UH-60 Black Hawk with exclusive photographs.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Boeing’s famous Phantom Works threw the kitchen sink at the problem: This is an aircraft with a helicopter-style main rotor, a tail rotor, a pusher propeller, and a wing-like “stabilator.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.After decades of R&D, the race to replace the UH-60 helicopter is entering its last few years.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.“The Army has learned its lesson” from past acquisition disasters, said Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who’s “very pleased” with FVL. This program is truly different, agreed one of the fathers of the cancelled Comanche, retired Maj. Gen. Rudy Ostovich.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.AVX/L3, Bell, Boeing, Karem, and Sikorsky have submitted their designs for the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft. None of them is a conventional helicopter.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.The Army isn’t just replacing old helicopters. It’s building a networked “ecosystem” of mutually supporting manned and unmanned weapons that can drive a flying wedge into Russian and Chinese air defenses.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.The SB>1 Defiant compound helicopter has only 11 hours of flight testing, versus over 160 for Bell’s V-280 Valor. But Sikorsky and Boeing say they have thousands of hours of other testing data to help the Army choose.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.The 2021 budget request also makes major reductions in the tracked M2 Bradley and the wheeled Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, as well as counter-IED programs.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Congress stopped the US Army from cancelling advanced procurement, while Germany, Israel, and the UK are all potential purchasers – but none has signed a production contract yet.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.The Navy will replace all 115 of its aged TH-57 Sea Ranger training helicopters with Leonardo’s AW119 helicopter.
By Barry RosenbergGen. James McConville wants to connect Army networks with the Air Force and replace some soldiers — not all — with automation.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.