US Army chooses Bell V-280 Valor
On 5 December 2022, the US Army announced the winner of its FLRAA (Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft) competition: the Bell V-280 Valor tiltrotor.
This competition had been set to replace some 2,000 UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters and 1,200 AH-1 Apache attack helicopters around 2030.The current contract is estimated to be worth up to USD 1.3 billion. But when the production of the new Bell is ramped up the value can rise to a multiple of this amount, especially when current foreign users of the Black Hawk become interested.
The Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft candidate was destined to step into the footprint of the UH-60, but the main two competitors in the race had their own idea on how. While Bell Helicopters chose a tiltrotor concept for its V-280 Valor, Sikorsky and Boeing’s design, the Defiant X, is more a conventional helicopter equipped with coaxial rotor blades.
Initially Sikorsky Boeing was ahead of its competitor in the development of an FLRAA demonstrator. But their technology demonstrator ‘Raider’ (a scaled down version of the Defiant X) N971SK, crashed in August 2017. This and several production issues caused a serious setback, and the prototype of the Defiant N100FV did not fly before September 2019.
The Bell V-280 prototype N280BH made its first flight right on schedule in December 2017, and spent several years logging test flights. Both candidates first flew in what the US Army called a Joint Multi-Role, or JMR, technology demonstration, followed by two phases of a competitive development and risk-reduction effort.
In June 2021 Bell retired its Valor flight demonstrator after it had flown more than 214 hours during which a maximum 305-knot cruising speed was reached. The Defiant flew a total of 63.9 hours, and traveled as fast as 247 knots.
Bell Valor prototypes are due to be delivered to the US Army by 2025. But, given the magnitude of the FLRAA program, it is not unthinkable that Sikorsky Boeing lodge a protest against the choice of the US Army and that can disrupt the planning.
Background information can be found here: https://www.scramble.nl/military-news/flraa-final-rfp
and here https://www.scramble.nl/military-news/sikorsky-boeing-reveals-refined-sb-1-helicopter
Photo: Bell Helicopters