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Bell V-280 Valor Selected to Replace Black Hawk in U.S. Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft Program

In a landmark decision, the U.S. Army has awarded Bell Textron a contract for the development of the V-280 Valor tiltrotor as a replacement for the aging UH-60 Black Hawk fleet. In so doing on Dec. 5, this sealed a major step forward for the Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft program, which comes with upgrading its assets in aviation.

The agreement, with a cap of $1.3 billion, sparks the start of a 19-month effort in which Bell will work on programmatic lead development and a virtual prototype. Army Brig. Gen. Robert Barrie, program executive officer for aviation, emphasized it will not be buying actual aircraft but will help further develop weapon system design, sustainment, digital enterprise, manufacturing, systems integration, flight testing, and airworthiness qualification.

After an exquisitely technical and thorough assessment, the V-280 Valor bests the Sikorsky-Boeing Defiant X platform built around a coaxial rotor design. Army officials said selection represents a “best value” determination based on a comprehensive analysis of performance, cost, and schedule. Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology Doug Bush said there is confidence in the evaluation process but assured members it was specifically designed to determine whether the right aircraft was chosen for the Army’s needs.

Despite the Army’s reassurance, Sikorsky and Boeing have started to raise questions on how the proposals were assessed to eventually provide the best value. The Government Accountability Office will review the protest and issue a ruling within 100 days. Whatever that outcome proves to be, the V-280 Valor is ready to begin  Read More.

The contract award is part of the early investment in a potential investment estimate of approximately $70 billion over several decades for the FLRAA program. This includes engineering manufacturing and development phases as well as the first lot of low-rate initial production. Initial operational capability – equipping the first Army unit with FLRAA – is expected by fiscal year 2030, and fielding to occur a decade after that, while the prototype is slated for delivery by 2025.

Bell Textron has already taken significant measures in supporting the advance of the V-280 Valor, such as opening a new 47,000-square-foot Weapon System’s Integration Lab in Texas. This facility is strictly for the flying and mission systems integration and tests of the new-generation fly-by-wire tiltrotor system by utilizing modular and open systems.

The V-280 Valor is powered by a Rolls Royce AE 1107F turbine engine and now has over 200 flight hours toward FLRAA demonstration and risk reduction. The aircraft is designed to expand the reach of U.S. forces’ air assault missions in the future, enabling operations at greater distances with increased speed, range, and survivability.

As the FLRAA program moves forward, the V-280 Valor will showcase advancements in aviation that undoubtedly will allow the capabilities of US forces in the battle space to stay current for decades to come.

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