US Army selects "Future Long Range Assault Aircraft" competitors

[Slater]

Looks like it's tiltrotors vs coaxials, either of which would be (IIRC) a first for the Army. Wonder which design would be more tolerant of battle damage?


"WASHINGTON — The Army has selected Bell and Sikorsky to enter into a competitive demonstration and risk reduction effort ahead of the start of the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, or FLRAA, program of record.

The service is on a tight timeline to field a new long-range assault aircraft by 2030. The CDRR will consist of two phases that will last roughly one year each.
The companies will deliver initial conceptual designs, an assessment of the feasibility of requirements and trade studies using model-based systems engineering.

The competition for the program of record will begin in 2022 with a plan to field the first unit equipped in 2030."


https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/03/16/army-selects-companies-to-continue-on-in-long-range-assault-aircraft-competition/

[sundance435]

I really like the looks of the SB-1, but I think the V-280 is probably the slight favorite at this early stage. Plus, even though it's Sikorsky, Boeing has a significant share of the SB-1 and who the hell knows where Boeing will be by the end of the year. I don't think bankruptcy and reorganization are out of the question at this point, maybe a spun-off Boeing Defense. That scenario wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for the defense industry.

[caporider]

I really like the looks of the SB-1, but I think the V-280 is probably the slight favorite at this early stage. Plus, even though it's Sikorsky, Boeing has a significant share of the SB-1 and who the hell knows where Boeing will be by the end of the year. I don't think bankruptcy and reorganization are out of the question at this point, maybe a spun-off Boeing Defense. That scenario wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for the defense industry.

Agreed, but only because V-280 has more test data available and tiltrotors are established in military service. V-280 will have noise and rotor wash issues, just like Osprey, so I'm not seeing a "sneaky" variant for AFSOC or similar like we have with the MH-60s. If SB-1 develops OK, its operational capabilities will give it better "helicoptery" characteristics while still achieving spec dash speeds.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

I thought this initially linked to an article about the SUper Tacano type aircraft???