Bell, Sikorsky move to second phase of FLRAA CD&RR

By Jaspreet Gill / March 30, 2021 at 5:59 PM

The Army announced today it has awarded Textron's Bell and a Sikorsky-Boeing team project agreements for the second phase of the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft competitive demonstration and risk-reduction effort.

FLRAA, one of the priorities under the Army's Future Vertical Lift modernization effort, is currently in a CD&RR expected to last until 2022 with Bell's V-280 Valor and the Sikorsky-Boeing team's SB-1 Defiant.

The project agreements, awarded under the Aviation and Missile Technology Consortium Other Transaction Authority, advance the schedule for FLRAA to an earlier milestone B decision, according to an Army press release issued today.

"CD&RR Phase II will execute in near parallel with the programmatic source-selection activities and supports preliminary analysis of requirements for Special Operations Command, MEDEVAC and Defense Exportability Features in FLRAA," the release states. "This strategy will enable the winning offeror to complete both air vehicle and weapon system preliminary design reviews in less than a year after the programmatic contract award."

Brig. Gen. Rob Barrie, program executive officer for aviation, added in the press release the CD&RR Phase II accelerates the digital engineering design work to the subsystem level and mitigates industrial base workforce risk, while maintaining competition.

The Army plans to achieve a first unit equipped with FLRAA in fiscal year 2030.

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