The Army’s Fight for Battlefield Control is Changing, Lockheed Martin is Leaning in with Innovation
By Lockheed MartinThe S-97 Raider is Sikorsky’s proto-prototype for the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft. It’s competing with the Bell 360 Invictus — but unlike the S-97, the 360 isn’t flying yet.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Despite tightening budgets, the Army’s pushing ahead with its plan to replace the Reagan-era UH-60 Black Hawk with a high-speed Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA). It’ll pick between Bell’s V-280 and the Sikorsky-Boeing Defiant-X next year, with the winner entering service in 2030.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.New drones – launched by helicopters in flight and built by the Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office – will reach out “hundreds of kilometers.” Marine F-35s, 82nd Airborne troops, and Special Ops will also participate in exercise EDGE21.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.The companies’ proposed Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) to replace the UH-60 is a sleeker, stealthier version of the prototype SB>1 Defiant now in flight tests. Can it beat Bell’s tiltrotor?
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Sikorsky’s ALIAS automation will help human pilots fly more safely at low altitude and high speeds and in poor visibility. Modified UH-60s will test out the technology for next-gen Future Vertical Lift.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville and other top Army pilots say these new technologies, tactics, & training will keep aircraft alive against high-tech foes like Russia and China.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said the two sides would work to identify “how we could co-develop certain capabilities that can help us get the next generation weapons system, but also to be complimentary if necessary for our forces as we deploy.”
By Paul McLearyDespite COVID-19, the SB>1 Defiant team is testing furiously to catch up with archrival Bell’s V-280 tiltrotor, which has almost 10 times as many flight hours.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Despite disruptions worldwide, Future Vertical Lift flight tests, virtual industry days, and design reviews are all moving ahead on schedule or mere weeks behind.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
In the competition for the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft, high agility and low life-cycle costs matter most, a former Marine tiltrotor test pilot argues.
By Scott Trail