The US Army is urgently developing two new combat aircraft: The Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) to replace the retired OH-58 Kiowa scout and the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) to replace the aging UH-60 Black Hawk transport. While multiple companies are working on designs, some are actually test-flying “demonstration” aircraft that are de facto prototypes.
Click the photos below to view our slideshow — which we’d recommend viewing in full-screen mode — and get a close-up look at the Sikorsky-Boeing contender for the Black Hawk replacement, the SB>1 Defiant , and its Bell rival, the V-280 Valor.
[Click here to read our whole series of stories on Future Vertical Lift]