The statement revealed that the “V-280 Valor [had] marked the completion of its three-year flight-test program with a series of demonstrations to highlight its revolutionary performance during more than 214 hours of flight.” The company added that its V-280 had “completed all planned Key Performance Parameters including low-speed agility, long-range cruise, 305 knot high-speed flights, and rapid mission systems integration” throughout the test. The Army’s involvement had included five Army test pilots who were able to fly the V-280 over 15 sorties. The company also held a ‘Soldier Touchpoint’ event where pilots, mechanics had a chance to discuss their own requirements from the future FLRAA. According to long-time expert on tiltrotor technology for Bell, Keith Flail, executive vice president, Advanced Vertical Lift Systems, commented: “We assessed several vertical lift technologies and determined the tiltrotor to be the only solution to the agility, range, and speed requirements of a long-range assault aircraft that can meet the cost, timeline, and risk profile required for a successful acquisition program.” Bell will continue with CD&RR Phase II
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air Power
which should result in “preliminary designs for major subsystems and the conceptual weapons system, based on data-proven performance that ensures transformational capabilities will be delivered in line with the Army’s schedule.” FARA The contenders for the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) programme are once again Lockheed Martin Sikorsky with Raider X and Bell with its 360 Invictus, a design based on its civil Bell 525 helicopter. This is not a tiltrotor. Colonel Greg Fortier, project manager, FARA, also speaking at the VFS event in May, said that FARA was on the same development track as FLRAA with a Milestone B in 2024 and a target of first unit equipped in 2030. However, the later starting time for the FARA programme (in 2019) “was that they could leverage work already done by the Cross Functional Team (CFT) and JMR TD before it. “We are aware the Army has tried this three times before [the Boeing–Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche, Bell’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter ARH-70 Arapaho, and Armed Aerial Scout - multiple contenders],
The Bell 360 Invictus is being designed to meet the US Army's FARA requirement for a platform that will allow the aircraft commander to operate at long range while gathering information and delivering kinetic effects.
and we are doing this so much differently than before,” said Fortier. “We need to experiment, prototype and demonstrate a next generation air vehicle as quickly as we can. We have two roles: get the demonstrators flying by FY23 … and we are just south of halfway complete which is quite remarkable when you think contract was only awarded in FY19.” “Not having the luxury of a competitive demonstration and risk reduction phase, we are somewhat overlapping them,” said
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