The U.S. Army officials have confirmed that it expected received Future Long Range Assault Aircraft no later than 2030, according to a recent service news release.
Currently, the U.S. Army is soliciting for the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft Competitive Demonstration and Risk Reduction via the Aviation and Missile Technology Consortium Other Transaction Authority. Phase one of the CD&RR delivers an initial conceptual design to include all substantiating technical documentation to support the design, requirements decompositions, trade studies, and requirements feasibility.
“We are committed to equipping the Army’s first unit with the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft no later than 2030,” said Colonel David Phillips, the Program Executive Office for Aviation’s Project Manager for FLRAA. “This effort will provide critical risk mitigation and inform the program of record as we pursue the material solution to meet the Army’s aviation modernization priority.”
Future Vertical Lift is the Army’s third modernization priority with FLRAA as a critical combat system needed to prevail in future wars by enabling a “leap-ahead” in speed, range, lethality, survivability, and reach to find, fix, and finish enemy threats and subsequently exploiting open corridors with significantly more capable air assault and MEDEVAC capabilities.
According to the Defense News, the Army is embarking on an ambitious plan to procure two major helicopters back-to-back to replace UH-60 Black Hawks, AH-64 Apaches and to fill a gap left open when the service retired its OH-85 Kiowa Warriors in 2014.
The service published a request for information in April this year to gauge industry on the realm of the possible including the acceleration of FLRAA’s fielding schedule with a goal of delivering at least by fiscal year 2030.