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US Army chose a mini Osprey to replace the Blackhawk (link)

hmmm https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_V-280_Valor
Iridescent Resort
  12/06/22
Tiltrotors are BADFUCKNGASS and the most awesome aircraft ev...
dashing sinister trailer park pistol
  12/06/22
I always get the feeling that they would be super susceptibl...
Iridescent Resort
  12/06/22
I assume they're transitioning at relatively low altitude an...
dashing sinister trailer park pistol
  12/07/22
in war you gotta imagine the worst case scenario
Iridescent Resort
  12/07/22
It's almost as if they prefer projects that will take an ext...
Cowardly Lettuce Church Building
  12/06/22
And kill people
maize wagecucks
  12/07/22
the other option they were entertaining looks like the Russi...
Iridescent Resort
  12/07/22
oddly very little about the sikorsky's performance
Big jap institution
  12/07/22
obviously the lobbying is more important
Iridescent Resort
  12/07/22
It looks a lot slower than a tiltrotor
dashing sinister trailer park pistol
  12/07/22
Damn that's sick
ruddy casino
  12/07/22
the boeing one looks sick but its ok, bell or whoever won...
Cheese-eating pozpig dragon
  12/07/22
cr tt
Iridescent Resort
  12/07/22
Actually, a bad choice. More complex, fragile moving part...
salmon home
  12/07/22
yeah I think the Osprey experience has given us false confid...
Iridescent Resort
  12/07/22
Illustration # 972358072345 of how TDNW doesn't know SHIT ab...
brilliant prole
  12/07/22
How else are defense contractors supposed to make money?
bronze ape
  12/07/22
Blackhawk is an old skool design and rugged af but they can'...
brilliant prole
  12/07/22
Given it is the modern military, you know they picked the wo...
Umber spot
  12/07/22
well unlike 9thgen fighters or whatever, the Blackhawk was a...
Iridescent Resort
  12/07/22
>>>the Blackhawk was an absolute workhorse so failu...
Umber spot
  12/07/22
?
Iridescent Resort
  12/07/22
re: Failure not being an option
Umber spot
  12/07/22
means a ton more testing in real world conditions and if it ...
Iridescent Resort
  12/07/22
Does that mean Lockheed doesn't get to keep the money?
bronze ape
  12/07/22
GC always cums out ahead
Iridescent Resort
  12/07/22
BTW guess who owns Sikorsky, who makes the Blackhawk?
Umber spot
  12/07/22
actually Cr forgot about that
Iridescent Resort
  12/07/22
Is Blackhawk production even ending? We sell them to other c...
brilliant prole
  12/07/22
"the Blackhawk was an absolute workhorse so failure is ...
Magenta round eye turdskin
  12/07/22
go back to Russia, you stupid fag we could keep our curre...
Iridescent Resort
  12/07/22
We're not "keeping our current gear" we're replaci...
Magenta round eye turdskin
  12/07/22
A10 is a piece of shit
Bespoke bat-shit-crazy lodge double fault
  12/07/22
It takes a beating like no other aircraft in our invetory.
brilliant prole
  12/07/22
People who say this don't understand what it exists for. It...
Magenta round eye turdskin
  12/07/22
stop saying “we” you stupid fag for you &ldqu...
Iridescent Resort
  12/07/22
Stop polluting every discussion with your pig-ignorant non s...
brilliant prole
  12/07/22
...
Magenta round eye turdskin
  12/07/22
Your primary activity is to encourage the US (which you cont...
Magenta round eye turdskin
  12/07/22
I’m American and you’re not and never will be ...
Iridescent Resort
  12/07/22
I'm successful and you're not and never will be hth Yo...
Magenta round eye turdskin
  12/07/22
yes such success, you friendless dork with an ugly wife and ...
Iridescent Resort
  12/07/22
Odd flex. I'm a block off the ocean and you will never come...
Magenta round eye turdskin
  12/07/22
Lmao, one block off the shitty ocean in a tertiary city s...
Iridescent Resort
  12/07/22
You sound MAF man. Want to tell us about the shithole you l...
Magenta round eye turdskin
  12/07/22
Zumwalt is det and the A-10 program just got extended. We ai...
brilliant prole
  12/07/22
But look at how much we spent on the Zumwalt program and the...
Magenta round eye turdskin
  12/07/22
B21 came in under budget
Bespoke bat-shit-crazy lodge double fault
  12/07/22
first prototypes.. let’s see what happens in mass prod...
Iridescent Resort
  12/07/22
"Came in" sounds like they have a bunch of them al...
Magenta round eye turdskin
  12/07/22
Paging Dr Lockheed - we have an emergency!
Big jap institution
  12/07/22
That thing looks awesome
shimmering tank
  12/07/22
holy shit the Boeing option is fucking massive compared to t...
Iridescent Resort
  12/07/22
overhead view https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FjY1-ykWIAIENYE...
Iridescent Resort
  12/07/22
So the pilot doesn't have to make as many trips to transport...
brilliant prole
  12/07/22
Rate this original analysis from a dood is 1000x more qualif...
brilliant prole
  12/07/22
rated as a six figure sinecure from Bell in his future
Black pisswyrm friendly grandma
  12/07/22
This bro walked away from that career path 15 years ago. It'...
brilliant prole
  12/07/22
Defense News Logo Industry US Army makes largest helicop...
brilliant prole
  12/07/22
seems unnecessarily complex and a pain in the ass to maintai...
bat shit crazy honey-headed dilemma therapy
  12/07/22


Poast new message in this thread



Reply Favorite

Date: December 6th, 2022 3:59 PM
Author: Iridescent Resort

hmmm

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_V-280_Valor

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45594893)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 6th, 2022 5:26 PM
Author: dashing sinister trailer park pistol

Tiltrotors are BADFUCKNGASS and the most awesome aircraft ever

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45595330)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 6th, 2022 11:43 PM
Author: Iridescent Resort

I always get the feeling that they would be super susceptible to ground fire while transitioning but I don’t know shit

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45597189)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 3:24 PM
Author: dashing sinister trailer park pistol

I assume they're transitioning at relatively low altitude and high speed (150+ mph) at least for a helicopter.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45599934)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 3:58 PM
Author: Iridescent Resort

in war you gotta imagine the worst case scenario

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45600102)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 6th, 2022 11:59 PM
Author: Cowardly Lettuce Church Building

It's almost as if they prefer projects that will take an extra 10 years and 100 billion to develop.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45597292)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 12:00 AM
Author: maize wagecucks

And kill people

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45597299)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 12:25 AM
Author: Iridescent Resort

the other option they were entertaining looks like the Russian helo

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky–Boeing_SB-1_Defiant

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45597407)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 5:51 AM
Author: Big jap institution

oddly very little about the sikorsky's performance

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45597749)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 7:15 AM
Author: Iridescent Resort

obviously the lobbying is more important

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45597848)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 7:43 PM
Author: dashing sinister trailer park pistol

It looks a lot slower than a tiltrotor

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45601080)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 5:54 AM
Author: ruddy casino

Damn that's sick

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45597751)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 5:56 AM
Author: Cheese-eating pozpig dragon

the boeing one looks sick

but its ok, bell or whoever won, my life for boeing, for lockheed martin, for any defense contractor protecting ARE right to get gender reassignment surgeries from muslim hassid jew doctors, and most of all my life for israel, jews and all 5,012,331,231 holocaust museums in the world #neverforget

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45597756)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 12:23 PM
Author: Iridescent Resort

cr tt

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45598983)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 12:51 PM
Author: salmon home

Actually, a bad choice.

More complex, fragile moving parts is bad news in combat situation especially in extraction situations

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45599148)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 12:53 PM
Author: Iridescent Resort

yeah I think the Osprey experience has given us false confidence that these aircraft are fine. we were barely shot at in Iraq and Afghan, but that could very well not be the case in the next war

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45599157)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 4:14 PM
Author: brilliant prole

Illustration # 972358072345 of how TDNW doesn't know SHIT about the actual US military.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45600202)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 12:57 PM
Author: bronze ape

How else are defense contractors supposed to make money?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45599174)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 4:16 PM
Author: brilliant prole

Blackhawk is an old skool design and rugged af but they can't keep upgrading the avionics forever. I'm sure this aircraft is gonna be full of automated shit that makes it idiotproof as well.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45600214)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 12:58 PM
Author: Umber spot

Given it is the modern military, you know they picked the worse option that will turn into a giant money pit and the vehicle will barely work and the production run will be cut 1/4 short making a project with a unit cost of $100M/per into $500M/per

However, the current army generals in charge will definitely join the board of Bell and Lockheed in 5 years

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45599183)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 1:00 PM
Author: Iridescent Resort

well unlike 9thgen fighters or whatever, the Blackhawk was an absolute workhorse so failure is not an option here

but would be cool if it works so that the USMC can inherit the blackhawks. next is a new attack chopper so what we can ditch the Cobras for Apaches

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45599197)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 1:02 PM
Author: Umber spot

>>>the Blackhawk was an absolute workhorse so failure is not an option here

lmao

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45599204)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 1:02 PM
Author: Iridescent Resort

?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45599208)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 1:04 PM
Author: Umber spot

re: Failure not being an option

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45599214)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 1:13 PM
Author: Iridescent Resort

means a ton more testing in real world conditions and if it falters they keep the blackhawks for another decade

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45599267)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 2:11 PM
Author: bronze ape

Does that mean Lockheed doesn't get to keep the money?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45599541)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 2:13 PM
Author: Iridescent Resort

GC always cums out ahead

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45599554)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 2:24 PM
Author: Umber spot

BTW guess who owns Sikorsky, who makes the Blackhawk?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45599623)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 3:09 PM
Author: Iridescent Resort

actually Cr

forgot about that

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45599836)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 4:18 PM
Author: brilliant prole

Is Blackhawk production even ending? We sell them to other countries. Last I heard we were trying to get certain countries to buy more.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45600226)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 3:12 PM
Author: Magenta round eye turdskin

"the Blackhawk was an absolute workhorse so failure is not an option here"

Don't kid yourself. Of course failure is an option. What, are we going to get invaded or something? I mean by something other than the result of a deliberately open border? We might lose in a place like Afghanistan. Oh, wait.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45599853)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 3:15 PM
Author: Iridescent Resort

go back to Russia, you stupid fag

we could keep our current gear fro another 30 years and still be ahead of Russia

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45599878)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 3:21 PM
Author: Magenta round eye turdskin

We're not "keeping our current gear" we're replacing them with stupid shit like this that is worse. For example, the A-10 is replaced with the F-35. Then there's the Zumwalt-class destroyer fiasco. We'll still be fine because there's zero chance we actually need to fight a defensive war. You can go argue with Are Reptile about specifics but regardless of your desire to get into aspie dick measuring contests, there's zero chance Russia invades the US. China isn't really doing it either.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45599915)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 4:13 PM
Author: Bespoke bat-shit-crazy lodge double fault

A10 is a piece of shit

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45600195)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 4:18 PM
Author: brilliant prole

It takes a beating like no other aircraft in our invetory.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45600229)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 7:31 PM
Author: Magenta round eye turdskin

People who say this don't understand what it exists for. It is phenomenal for that task. It isn't made to do 1000 things acceptably like the F-35. It is made to do exactly one thing really well (provide CAS) and it does that while protecting the pilot to a remarkable degree.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45601025)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 4:26 PM
Author: Iridescent Resort

stop saying “we” you stupid fag

for you “we” means a wheezing aircraft carrier that needs tugs to go over the horizon

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45600280)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 4:40 PM
Author: brilliant prole

Stop polluting every discussion with your pig-ignorant non sequiturs.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45600354)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 7:33 PM
Author: Magenta round eye turdskin



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45601034)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 7:35 PM
Author: Magenta round eye turdskin

Your primary activity is to encourage the US (which you contribute absolutely nothing to, by your own admission) to give our shit to a foreign country that may be paying you to promote their interests. Gtfo with this bullshit.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45601038)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 7:37 PM
Author: Iridescent Resort

I’m American and you’re not and never will be

hth

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45601043)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 7:38 PM
Author: Magenta round eye turdskin

I'm successful and you're not and never will be

hth

You're not any more American though.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45601050)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 7:42 PM
Author: Iridescent Resort

yes such success, you friendless dork with an ugly wife and sad corporate job living in a McMansion in a tertiary Florida city not even on the water

Lmao

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45601073)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 7:48 PM
Author: Magenta round eye turdskin

Odd flex. I'm a block off the ocean and you will never come close to living in a 7 figure house. My house is definitely not a cookie cutter McMansion. My job pays some large number of times more than anything you have ever seen. Same for my wife's job. You literally had to run to Ukraine to get laid (after failing in Russia, I guess that just wasn't enough assist for your loser ass).

You actually had the nerve to suggest that me working on my own house was prole, as if your highness over here has some vast estate with servants caring for his every need instead of being too poor to pay taxes.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45601101)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 7:57 PM
Author: Iridescent Resort

Lmao, one block off the shitty ocean in a tertiary city

such a sad little man with an ugly wife to boot

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45601134)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 7:59 PM
Author: Magenta round eye turdskin

You sound MAF man. Want to tell us about the shithole you live in? Feel free to post some pics of the wife while you're at it. Whenever we get glipses into your irl it is always lulzy as fuck.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45601143)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 4:40 PM
Author: brilliant prole

Zumwalt is det and the A-10 program just got extended. We ain't that stupid.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45600358)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 7:33 PM
Author: Magenta round eye turdskin

But look at how much we spent on the Zumwalt program and the A-10 extensions just keep some in service. We don't make new ones and if we needed to there's no line available to do so.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45601033)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 4:13 PM
Author: Bespoke bat-shit-crazy lodge double fault

B21 came in under budget

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45600191)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 4:14 PM
Author: Iridescent Resort

first prototypes.. let’s see what happens in mass production

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45600199)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 7:39 PM
Author: Magenta round eye turdskin

"Came in" sounds like they have a bunch of them already, which they don't.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45601054)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 9:46 PM
Author: Big jap institution

Paging Dr Lockheed - we have an emergency!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45601641)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 3:15 PM
Author: shimmering tank

That thing looks awesome

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45599883)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 3:59 PM
Author: Iridescent Resort

holy shit the Boeing option is fucking massive compared to the Blackhawk

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FjY1YBAXkAYoJvC?format=jpg&name=large

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45600107)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 4:00 PM
Author: Iridescent Resort

overhead view

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FjY1-ykWIAIENYE?format=jpg&name=large

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45600111)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 4:41 PM
Author: brilliant prole

So the pilot doesn't have to make as many trips to transport the same number of doods.

Funny story: buddy of mine flew blackhawks to, among other things, transport bros who were doing ranger training. The trainees were given a designated location and told to be there at the designated time. My buddy would load up the chopper with shitloads of candy, like halloween candy, reeses peanut butter cups and shit, because the trainees would be starving to death when he picked them up. The fist batch to get on the chopper would tear through all the candy and leave nothing but wrappers behind for the next crew. The second crew would be so hungry they would lick the fucking discarded candy wrappers the first crew left behind..

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45600362)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 9:35 PM
Author: brilliant prole

Rate this original analysis from a dood is 1000x more qualified to opine on this then she xo poa:

The Army has had limitations by law on its aviation fleet since the Air Force became a separate service. There are really two schools of thought in military aviation with the limiting factor being budget. Fewer aircraft with more sophisticated capabilities or more aircraft that are less capable. I've personally always favored the later because I feel mass has a quality all of its own particularly in high intensity combat. More capabilities generally translates to more maintenance particularly in terms of operating in harsh conditions. It appears we've managed to strike that balance with this airframe. Bell is the manufacturer of both the Cobra and the Huey so a tremendous track record in rotary wing production. Of course, the proof will be born out in combat, at night, in the rain with a full load under direct enemy fire. If it can perform under those conditions and remain fully mission capable day in and day out under the harshest conditions then we can be confident in it. And, my hunch is that it will be coming from Bell. There are a lot of basic questions to be answered before we can really make a judgement. Back when I was flying cobras and we got the Apache the selling point was that it was roughly three time as capable so then you have to go back to the concept or principle of war of Mass that I mentioned earlier. If something is much more capable but it still only takes one enemy rifleman one shot to take down does the capability ratio really work in combat. So finding the right number when replacing a fleet is an art as well as a science. These are the things we will want to know before we can say if it works out for better or worse replacing the existing fleet versus upgrading it.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45601604)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 9:48 PM
Author: Black pisswyrm friendly grandma

rated as a six figure sinecure from Bell in his future

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45601647)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 10:16 PM
Author: brilliant prole

This bro walked away from that career path 15 years ago. It's probably why we are still friends. It would have been easy as fuck as he was in a position to make big foreign contracts happen. He taught me most of what I knew about corruption in the MIC before I went to lol school and learned to pwn contractors IRL.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45601742)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 9:43 PM
Author: brilliant prole

Defense News Logo

Industry

US Army makes largest helicopter award in 40 years

By Jen Judson

Dec 5, 05:37 PM

The V-280 Valor comes in for a roll-on landing during its first public flight demonstration at Bell's Amarillo, Texas, production facility. (Jen Judson/Staff)

UPDATE - This story has been updated to clarify how the legacy fleet will be replaced with Future Vertical Lift aircraft.

WASHINGTON — Textron’s Bell has won the U.S. Army’s competition to build the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, the service’s largest helicopter procurement decision in 40 years.

The deal for the next-generation helicopter is worth up to $1.3 billion and is set to replace roughly 2,000 Black Hawk utility helicopters. FLRAA will not serve as a one-for-one replacement for existing aircraft, but it will take over the roles of the Black Hawk, long the workhorse of the Army for getting troops to and around the battlefield around 2030.

Ultimately, the Army’s Future Vertical Lift pursuits will also replace around 1,200 Apache attack helicopters among other legacy aircraft through the pursuit of FLRAA, the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft and Air-Launched Effects working in advanced teaming formations.

The service wants FLRAA to be capable of traveling roughly 2,440 nautical miles (or 2,810 miles) without refueling, but also to be agile enough to maneuver troops into dangerous hot spots.

The engineering and manufacturing development and low-rate production phase could be worth roughly $7 billion. If the “full complement” of aircraft are purchased across the entire life of the fleet, the program could be worth in the range of $70 billion to include potential foreign military sales, the Army’s program executive officer for aviation, Maj. Gen. Rob Barrie, said during a Dec. 5 media roundtable.

Complicating the Army’s vertical lift modernization efforts, the Army is planning to develop and field FARA nearly along the same timeline to perform the scout mission. That duty was left vacant when the Army decided to retire its Kiowa Warrior helicopters in 2013. Since then, the Army has filled that gap with teams of Apache helicopters and Shadow unmanned aircraft systems.

The contract represents a milestone for the service as the Army hasn’t procured two major helicopters since the 1980s and multiple efforts to buy other helicopters over the last several decades ended in failure. For instance, the service canceled the Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche helicopter program in 2004 after spending roughly $7 billion on its development.

The FLRAA competition pitted two aircraft head to head: Bell’s V-280 Valor, a tiltrotor aircraft, and Sikorsky and Boeing’s Defiant X, which features coaxial rotor blades. Both aircraft were designed to fit into the same footprint as a Black Hawk.

“This is our largest and most complex competitive procurement we have executed in the Army in the ... history of Army aviation,” Barrie told Defense News earlier this year. “That system is going to be with us a long time; it goes without saying that we want to make sure everything is done correctly and in a disciplined manner.”

In a Dec. 5 statement, Scott Donnelly, Textron’s chief executive, said the company is “honored that the U.S. Army has selected the Bell V-280 Valor as its next-generation assault aircraft. We intend to honor that trust by building a truly remarkable and transformational weapon system to meet the Army’s mission requirements.”

The decision, which was expected earlier this year, was initially one of the most anticipated Army awards in 2022. While service acquisition chief Doug Bush told Defense News in October the award would come in weeks, he also noted an announcement would be “conditions-based.”

Major procurement programs are often protested, putting pressure on the military to ensure awards are “protest-proof.”

Bush said the source-selection board for this effort needed to take a very careful and deliberate approach.

“There’s a process that the source-selection board goes through to not just make the source selection but then, importantly, to kind of audit themselves and have others audit them to make sure it was done the right way,” he said. “It does take a while, but we want to make absolutely sure that we do this the right way and that we get what’s best for the Army.”

In a statement sent out after the Army announced the award to Bell, Sikorsky and Boeing said they “remain confident DEFIANT X is the transformational aircraft the U.S. Army requires to accomplish its complex missions today and well into the future. We will evaluate our next steps after reviewing feedback from the Army.”

Both FLRAA demonstrator aircraft spent several years logging test flights. They first flew in what the Army called a Joint Multi-Role, or JMR, technology demonstration, followed by two phases of a competitive development and risk-reduction effort.

While Valor’s first flight was right on schedule in December 2017, Sikorsky and Boeing ran into several issues leading up to their expected first flight, delaying it by more than a year.

First, in early August 2017, Sikorsky’s Raider aircraft, essentially a smaller version of Defiant the company built and flew, crashed at its test flight facility in West Palm Beach, Florida. That left Sikorsky with one Raider aircraft to continue in its internal test program for refining its X2 coaxial helicopter technology for both the FLRAA program and the Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft effort.

Then the company struggled to build Defiant’s rotor blades due to manufacturing issues, causing a delay.

The team had hoped to fly by the end of 2018, but while running the powertrain systems test bed, engineers discovered a series of issues that caused them to hit pause on testing. Defiant eventually flew for the first time in March 2019.

Once the JMR demonstration phase came to a close, the Army kept Valor and Defiant flying through another two phases of a competitive demonstration and risk-reduction effort, wrapping that up last year.

Before Bell retired its Valor flight demonstrator in June 2021, the V-280 flew more than 214 hours and showed off low-speed agility and long-range cruise capabilities, and reached a maximum 305-knot cruising speed.

Five Army experimental test pilots have flown the V-280 in 15 sorties, according to the company statement. Bell used feedback from Army pilots, mechanics and infantry squads to inform design plans.

Defiant flew a total of 63.9 hours, traveled as fast as 247 knots and demonstrated maneuverability at tree-top height at speeds greater than 200 knots, according to Sikorsky. The aircraft also tested greater than 60-degree banked turns, demonstrated confined area-landing operations and lifted a 5,300-pound Guided Multiple Launcher Rocket Storage Pod externally. The aircraft was also flown by multiple U.S. Army experimental test pilots.

FLRAA prototypes from Bell are due to the service by 2025. The initial contract obligation is $232 million, with a ceiling of $1.3 billion if options beyond the initial contract are exercised.

The initial phase allows the Army to continue preliminary design and then get to the design, development and delivery of virtual prototypes, according to Barrie.

FLRAA is expected to enter the fleet in 2030, around the same time as the Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft is planned for fielding. Bell and Lockheed Martin are competing to build the FARA.

The service plans to field FARA along with FLRAA around 2030. The two teams building prototypes are aiming to fly them by the end of 2023. Each team’s aircraft are almost entirely complete, and they are waiting for the Army’s new engine to be delivered under the Improved Turbine Engine Program. The ITEP engines went into the testing process ahead of delivering earlier this year after a delay due to the pandemic.

The Army recently said it would postpone delivering the ITEP engines for the aircraft from the end of 2022 to the spring of 2023 because of additional supply chain and technical issues.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45601634)



Reply Favorite

Date: December 7th, 2022 10:03 PM
Author: bat shit crazy honey-headed dilemma therapy

seems unnecessarily complex and a pain in the ass to maintain, especially in austere environments. didnt these tiltrotors crash and kill a bunch of troops in the middle east? the army fucking loves crashing helicopters

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5248429&forum_id=2#45601699)