In addition to halting the FARA competition, service leaders want to end UH-60 V Blackhawk production, postpone moving the Improved Turbine Engine Program into production, and phase out legacy drones.
The simultaneous delivery to the two competitors comes after an approximately year-long delay for the new engine and paves the way for a flight test next year.
Explore how networked warfare, AI, and 3D-printed drones are reshaping US Indo-Pacific strategy.
The analysis of alternatives is needed for the program’s milestone B decision, and could help quell some lawmakers’ concerns about the Army’s acquisition strategy.
“Both engines are on-track to be delivered by the government to the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) competitive prototype vendors by the end of October 2023,” the Army wrote in a press release today.
The Army’s Fight for Battlefield Control is Changing, Lockheed Martin is Leaning in with Innovation
The 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.
As aircraft shrink, threats expand, and technology accelerates, aircraft engines must iterate along with the threats.
Bell and Sikorsky have started building their competing prototypes for the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) ahead of a Final Design Review in November. The vital digital architecture is still in development.
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.
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.”
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.
CDAO’s Advana data analytics platform is ingesting data from about 500 DoD business systems.
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.
Only one contender for the Army's future scout is derived from an aircraft that's actually flown. Guess which?
Whatever their aircraft is like, Boeing's PR strategy is definitely stealthy. There's a strategic reason for that.
Sikorsky says their Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft design will fly faster, with bigger weapons, than archrival Bell’s. Bell says theirs will be cheaper and more reliable.