Army’s Black Hawk Tiltrotor Replacement Passes Development Milestone

While enthusiasm to replace the Army's Black Hawk helicopters with a high-speed tiltrotor may not be great news riding on the heels of a recently released V-22 Osprey accident report, the firm says they're making good headway on the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft, getting the US Army's Approval to move on to Milestone B.

"Milestone B" is a part of the 'Major Capability Acquisition process', and comes along after Bell and the Army "decompose requirements, reduce risk and inform the weapon system acquisition". Parsing that from bureaucratic parseltongue, the Bell team completed a Preliminary Design Review, checking that the FLRAA aircraft in its current design form would integrate with existing and prospective elements of the techno-ecosystem it will work in. Engines, electronics, weapon systems, and logistics are all important elements that could sink even the best performing design on paper, as many an orphaned DOD project could attest. Bell has gone all-in on the FLRAA contract, investing in 'several new state-of-the-art facilities and new innovative manufacturing processes to drive cost, schedule and performance to support the program’s execution.'

"This achievement marks a historic moment for both the U.S. Army and Bell,” said Ryan Ehinger, Bell’s Senior Vice President and Program Director, FLRAA program. “Now that the program has Milestone B approval, the course is set for delivering transformational capability to the warfighter. The FLRAA team remains laser-focused on working in tandem with the U.S. Army to execute the next phase of Engineering and Manufacturing Development.”

“This significant milestone is made possible by the years of hard work and sacrifice by Team FLRAA and our teammates throughout the Army and the Department of Defense,” added Jeffrey Poquette, FLRAA Project Manager. “We are poised to deliver a truly transformational aircraft for the Army. The hard work continues into the Engineering and Manufacturing Development Phase where we will design, build and test FLRAA prototypes. It is certainly an exciting time for the program.”

FMI: www.bellflight.com