On 2 August 2024 the US Army’s Program Executive Office Aviation announced that the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) programme had taken a major step forward with the approval of its Milestone B Acquisition Decision Memorandum.
The decision came after the successful FLRAA preliminary design review in April this year and a meeting of the Army Systems Acquisition Review Council (ASARC) in June.
“After reviewing FLRAA affordability, technological viability, threat projections and security, engineering, manufacturing, sustainment and cost risks, the ASARC confirmed that all sources of program risk have been adequately addressed for this phase of the program,” the US Army stated. “Milestone B allows the army to exercise contract options and continues development of the aircraft as it now enters the engineering and manufacturing development phase.”
The FLRAA programme was initiated in 2019 and on 5 December 2022 the US Army selected Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor aircraft over the Defiant X compound helicopter being bid by Sikorsky and Boeing, awarding Bell Textron an FLRAA Weapon System Development contract that included nine options.
The Milestone B decision allows the army to exercise the first option, which includes detailed aircraft design and the building of six prototype aircraft. The army is planning for the first FLRAA flight in 2026, with low-rate initial production scheduled to begin in 2028 and initial fielding activity to take place in 2030. The army says it will continue to review and refine this schedule as necessary based on the contract award and the latest programme activities.
Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Douglas R Bush was quoted by the US Army as saying, “This an important step for FLRAA and demonstrates the army’s commitment to our highest aviation modernisation priority. FLRAA will provide assault and medevac capabilities for the future army, adding significantly increased speed, range and endurance.”
Ryan Ehinger, Bell’s senior vice president and FLRAA programme director, was quoted by Bell on 5 August as saying, “This achievement marks a historic moment for both the US Army and Bell. Now that the programme has Milestone B approval, the course is set for delivering transformational capability to the warfighter. The FLRAA team remains laser-focused on working in tandem with the US Army to execute the next phase of engineering and manufacturing development (EMD).”
According to the US Army, the FLRAA “will provide transformational capability for ground forces and aircrews with speed, range and surprise to present multiple dilemmas to the enemy. It will expand the depth of the battlefield, extending reach to conduct air assault missions from relative sanctuary while enabling us to rapidly exploit freedom of maneuver to converge ground forces through decentralised operations at extended distances. FLRAA’s inherent reach and stand-off capabilities will ensure mission success through tactical maneuver at operational and strategic distances.”
Bell states that the V-280-based FLRAA “will fly twice as far and twice as fast as the current fleet. By utilising mature tiltrotor technology coupled with an innovative digital engineering approach and an open architecture, it will be the most reliable, affordable and high-performing long-range assault aircraft in the world.”
