The collaborative effort by Sikorsky Aircraft and Boeing Co. has delivered its proposed design for the U.S. Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, asserting that their proposal will retain traditional helicopter agility and maneuverability and deliver more combat power on the objective than competing proposals.
The FLRAA is a project to identify a replacement for the U.S. Army’s UH-60 (Black Hawk) helicopter series, a model that is the basis for different special applications – as well as to advance combat helicopter technology for a new assault aircraft.
The team of Sikorsky and Boeing have developed a medium-lift helicopter, the DEFIANT X, which completed its first flight in 2019 and more recently was tested and evaluated in digital combat applications. While the testing continues, the partners state that the DEFIANT X is “designed for fleet reliability and availability, including long maintenance-free operating periods, real-time vehicle health management and fewer parts.”
Another proposed FLRAA design has been developed by Bell Textron Inc.
The Army is expected to select a new combat helicopter design in mid-2022.
