Page 50 - Australian Defence Magazine July-August 2021

50 FUTURE VERTICAL LIFT
JULY-AUGUST 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
IN 2030, under its multi-billion-dollar Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program, the US Army plans to introduce the first increments of a two-phase plan to replace many of its current battlefield helicopters with rotorcraft able to fly twice as far and twice as fast as today’s helicopters, and be significantly more agile, lethal and connected across the battlespace.
FUTURE VERTICAL LIFT
Under FVL, the US Army will acquire a Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) to replace the Army’s large fleet of Black Hawk battlefield mobility helicopters; and a Fu- ture Attack Reconnaissance (FARA) rotorcraft designed, initially at least, to replace its Kiowa Warrior armed recon-
naissance capability lost when the type was prematurely retired in 2014.
The capabilities being sought by the pro- gram cannot be met by today’s conventional helicopters, so the US Army is seeking what it refers to as ‘transformational’ technolo- gies. One of its key requirements across both FLRAA and FARA rotorcraft include modu- lar, open systems architecture that is as com- mon as possible between the two platforms, allowing future technology and equipment to be rapidly and easily integrated.
The US Army is embarking on this pro- gram because it recognises tomorrow’s bat- tlefield will be an increasingly more lethal place to fight. Rapidly evolving technology is producing weapons which are faster (capa- ble of up to Mach 5 and possibly even higher in the not-too-distant future), multi-spectral sensor systems which are more capable and networking capabilities able to dramatically reduce ‘sensor-to-shooter’ times.
This, coupled with the fast-growing capa-
bilities of some of its potential adversaries
ening geo-political situation around the world – nowhere more evident than here in the Asia-Indo-Pacific region - is driving the US Army to find ways to operate smarter, faster and with greater interoperability.
“THE US ARMY IS SEEKING WHAT
IT REFERS TO AS ‘TRANSFORMATIONAL’ TECHNOLOGIES”
and the wors-
FUTURE LONG RANGE ASSAULT AIRCRAFT
The leading program, in terms of development, is FLRAA and the two contenders are Bell with the V-280 Valor, and a Lockheed Martin-Sikorsky-Boeing team offering
SIKORSKY