Over the southwest desert, drones large and small are autonomously avoiding anti-aircraft threats while feeding real-time targeting data over an AI network to troops on the ground.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said the two sides would work to identify “how we could co-develop certain capabilities that can help us get the next generation weapons system, but also to be complimentary if necessary for our forces as we deploy.”
By Paul McLearyDespite COVID-19, the SB>1 Defiant team is testing furiously to catch up with archrival Bell’s V-280 tiltrotor, which has almost 10 times as many flight hours.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.“This really was one of the higher priorities the [Indian] navy had, to get these aircraft delivered,” Tom Kane, director of Sikorsky’s Naval Helicopter Programs, says. “I requested that the aircraft be made available on an accelerated basis.”
By Paul McLearyAfter decades of building traditional helicopters in traditional ways, contractors must get ready for the Army’s new high-speed Future Vertical Lift aircraft. Small makers of key parts need help.
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.New Future Vertical Lift aircraft are just part of the solution. So are new tactics and technology upgrades for existing helicopters.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: In normal times, this week would see Bell Textron and the Sikorsky-Boeing team showing off their cutting-edge aircraft at AUSA Global Force in Huntsville, with video displays, models, and even full-size mock-ups. With conferences closed down because of the coronavirus, we’re making an all-out push to give you a virtual taste of Huntsville (click…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.