Range, Speed, And Reaction Time At Operational Distances Will Define The Next Phase Of Army Aviation
Bell created the V-280 Valor with agility, speed in excess of 280 knots, and more than 500 nm of range that is needed to quickly take advantage of tactical opportunities in multi-domain operations in theaters across the globe.
By Barry RosenbergHow and why Bell’s candidates for the Army’s Two Future Vertical Lift programs will help to create overmatch in the Great Power competition.
By Barry RosenbergThe S-97 Raider is Sikorsky’s proto-prototype for the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft. It’s competing with the Bell 360 Invictus — but unlike the S-97, the 360 isn’t flying yet.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Despite tightening budgets, the Army’s pushing ahead with its plan to replace the Reagan-era UH-60 Black Hawk with a high-speed Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA). It’ll pick between Bell’s V-280 and the Sikorsky-Boeing Defiant-X next year, with the winner entering service in 2030.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.The companies’ proposed Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) to replace the UH-60 is a sleeker, stealthier version of the prototype SB>1 Defiant now in flight tests. Can it beat Bell’s tiltrotor?
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Earlier this year, the purchase of 12 tiltrotors was indefinitely postponed for lack of funds. Now the new defense minister – and prospective prime minister – wants to change that.
By Arie EgoziDespite disruptions worldwide, Future Vertical Lift flight tests, virtual industry days, and design reviews are all moving ahead on schedule or mere weeks behind.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.The Army will pick either the Bell 360 Invictus or the Sikorsky Raider-X as its Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft. Get a close-up look at both contenders.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.The Raider-X compound helicopter not only meets the Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance needs today, Sikorsky FARA director Tim Malia told us: It has the margin for growth “to be a good investment for the taxpayer for decades to come.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.The Bell design for the Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft isn’t as revolutionary as archrival Sikorsky’s. But, Bell says, that’s an advantage in the mud and chaos of real warzones.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.The Army’s urgently developing new air-launched drones, long-range missiles, and electronic architecture to go on the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft that Bell and Sikorsky are vying to build.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.The Bell 360 Invictus and the Sikorsky Raider-X will vie for the final contract to build FARA, with rival prototypes in flight by 2023. Bell and Sikorsky (with Boeing) are also facing off for the FLRAA transport.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
In the competition for the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft, high agility and low life-cycle costs matter most, a former Marine tiltrotor test pilot argues.
By Scott Trail