Washington: As the US Army and Bell work to get pilots into the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) by 2030, service officials are eyeing three upgrades for a follow-on iteration.
“What we don’t want to do between version one and two is redevelop the aircraft,” said Brig Gen Cain Baker, the Army’s director of the Future Vertical Lift Cross Functional Team.
“We’re looking at how do you bring [in new] technology capabilities … in the cockpit? How do you put their ability to communicate at longer distances?” he later added.
In late 2022, the Army selected Bell’s V-280 Valour tiltrotor as its pick to eventually replace thousands of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, a deal that could soar to $70 billion if the program moves into production. Senior US Army leaders recently signed off on plans to kick start the next phase of the program — engineering and manufacturing development. But as work on the core aircraft continues, the Army is already eyeing improvements.
Following an Association of the US Army event, Baker provided reporters with new details about the design of FLARAA “version two.” The service is banking on its Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) as the key to more easily adding in new capabilities, and this upcoming round of improvements should include new sensors for an enhanced pilotage capability, advanced avionics and an expansion of launched effects.
“We need that open system architecture and approach so we can integrate those capabilities quickly, affordably, and really make it the most [of it] … for the crews,” said Brig Gen David Phillips, the program executive officer for aviation. “Those future capabilities that we bring on board have historically been challenging, and that’s an intent from our open system approach is to lower that bar for new capabilities to get on board the aircraft.”
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