US & UK Ink Pact On Next-Gen Aircraft, Long-Range Missiles

UPDATED WASHINGTON: The UK is eager to jump aboard a range of high-profile US Army modernization efforts, signing an agreement to begin participating in the US Army’s Future Vertical Lift aircraft and its Long Range Precision Fires artillery program.

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy confirmed the budding partnership today while speaking to reporters from Poland, where he is visiting US troops and trying to wrap up a new defense cooperation agreement with the Polish government.

UPDATE McCarthy pointed to UK interest in the transport variant of FVL, the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) meant to replace the UH-60 Black Hawk, as well as the scout variant, the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA); the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), fired by wheeled HIMARS launchers; and equipment such as night vision goggles, new rifles, and an augmented reality targeting goggle.

“What we did was really lock in on a certain set of weapons systems,” he said. UPDATE ENDS

News of London’s interest in the Army’s fast-tracked modernization plans was first announced Tuesday when the UK’s Ministry of Defence issued a statement confirming “key cutting-edge capabilities have been identified for closer collaboration to help narrow the gaps between UK and US forces so we can operate seamlessly together in future battlespaces.”

The agreement was signed Tuesday by McCarthy and British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey.

McCarthy said the two sides would meet over the next several months 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.” 

The US Army launched a massive modernization effort in 2017 but it’s made little public effort to enlist allied nations until now. The Army’s top priority is a new arsenal of long-range cannon and surface-to-surface missiles, collectively called Long-Range Precision Fires.

But the service’s highest-profile program is Future Vertical Lift, which seeks to replace existing helicopters with radically faster designs. Flight testing is well underway on two competing prototypes to replace the Army’s UH-60 Black Hawk, with the Navy and Special Operations also expressing interest: the Sikorsky-Boeing SB>1 and the Bell V-280 tiltrotor.  Sikorsky and Bell are also competing to design a new high-speed scout chopper, the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA).

Aircraft are among the most expensive things the Army buys, and it’ll be especially challenging to control the cost of these ambitious, revolutionary technologies. International sales could drive efficiencies of scale that lower the cost per aircraft.

McCarthy also confirmed that the Pentagon remains “weeks” away from solidifying plans to move 10,000 troops out of Germany, warning he’s “not going to get out in front of my boss” by announcing which units will be on the move just yet.

The Pentagon is still developing options for US troops stationed on the continent, including the 1,000 troops slated to be based in Poland — a separate issue from the withdrawal of the 10,000 President Trump abruptly announced last month.

Defense officials have suggested that the troops could be redeployed to other areas of Europe, the Indo-Pacific, or back to the United States, but it’s unclear how and where so many troops could be easily absorbed. 

Some European countries are eager to build a bulwark against Russia and, perhaps, win the Trump administration’s favor. The nationalist government of Poland — where President Andrzej Duda this week squeaked out a close reelection — and Latvia, which also said it’s ready to absorb US boots on the ground have both expressed interest. 

There were expectations that the US and Poland would wrap up negotiations on a new defense cooperation agreement when Duda and Trump met at the White House late last month, a pre-election visit that drew criticism for the appearance of the US putting its weight on the Polish electoral scale. But McCarthy said the work continues on the agreement, which would include details of the 1,000 US troops agreed to last year. Any additional troops, he said, are currently outside the scope of the talks. 

Latvia’s defense minister announced last week his country is “ready to invest to receive a certain amount of American troops on Latvian soil,” adding, “we are not trying to punish the Germans. We don’t want to compete [with them], but if it’s really inevitable then we are ready to receive you.”

 

Updated Thursday 9:35 am after the Army confirmed Sec. McCarthy was referring to both the scout and transport variants of FVL.