The manufacturer is shifting attention to alliance requirements in the aftermath of the US Army cancelling its next-generation Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) effort.
HADES is “designed to support active campaigning short of conflict and then potentially support targeting in conflicted areas where you might let high-end stealthy fighters or unmanned systems take first contact,” said Andrew Evans, the ISR Task Force director.
Sikorsky is using remaining FARA dollars to test out the new T901 engine in anticipation of integrating it on a UH-60 M Black Hawk later this year.
Boeing recently announced the Block II helo's first maiden flight and plans to deliver the first production aircraft to the service in the coming weeks.
“We've seen some improvement … and so readiness is there: We have enough retrofit generators right now [and] it's not impacting readiness,” said John Chicoli, the director of Boeing’s global services for vertical lift and special operations.
Gray Eagle STOL and Gray Eagle 25M are the best options for Army aviation as it assesses where to move from its current inflection point.
General Atomics will also showcase its Mojave demonstrator for the first time during the Army Aviation Association of America conference in Denver, a company spokesman said.