THE END OF THE BEGINNING FOR FUTURE VERTICAL LIFT

The search for the replacement of the US Army’s UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter came to an end on Tuesday 6 December when the Department of Defense (DoD) announced that Bell Textron had been awarded a $1.3 billion contract to develop its V-280 Valor tiltrotor as the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA). The initial tranche of funds is set at $232 million.

This aircraft, like its defeated rival the Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant, is ushering in a new age of more capable and dynamic military rotorcraft, a process that was arguably started when the US Marine Corps began to introduce the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor into service 2007.

The need for a new type of rotorcraft was partially founded on helicopter shortfalls in performance experienced during the asymmetric wars in Iraq and particularly Afghanistan, where the requirements for long range together with high and hot effectiveness combined to limit traditionally designed rotorcraft effectiveness.

Initially founded in the Army’s Joint Multi Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR TD) project, the aim has been to replace two of army aviation’s long serving helicopters, the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter and the Boeing AH64 Apache attack helicopter, with a rotorcraft that is next generational not only in its aerodynamics but also in its lifecycle management. As progress was made, JMR TD transformed into the FLRAA and the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) programmes.

The FARA requirement again sees Bell Textron going up against the SikorskyBoeing partnership, however Bell’s 360 Invictus is not a tiltrotor and will rely on a developed articulated rotor system. Sikorsky Boeing’s Raider X continues with Sikorsky’s X2 development path which combines two coaxial rotors with a pusher propeller, achieving a speed up to 250 knots, which would allow it to better keep up with the V-280’s speed of around 280 knots.

Industry has worked with the DoD to push forward the development of the FVL platforms by incorporating digital design to accelerate the acquisition process by allowing different aspects of each platform to be developed in parallel rather than sequentially. The requirement for the incorporation of Modular Open System Architecture (MOSA) should also ensure that each platform will be upgradable over its lifetime by allowing it to receive new systems and technology from across industry, rather than stove-piped to a small number of proprietary system suppliers.

Aside from the US Army’s need to replace the UH-60 Black Hawk and AH-64 Apache, the appeal of this step-change in rotorcraft capability will be taken up by the international market for both FLRAA and FARA leading to busy production lines in the decades ahead.

Kallman