US Army makes largest helicopter award in 40 years worth up to $1.3 billion, set to replace 2,000 Black Hawks and 1,200 Apaches in eight years

Textron's Bell has won the U.S. Army's competition to build the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, a project valued at up to $1.3 billion that will see helicopters replaced around 2030. The decision is the service's largest helicopter procurement in 40 years, and is set to replace roughly 2,000 Black Hawk utility helicopters and 1,200 Apache attack helicopters.

The Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) will fulfill the roles of both the Black Hawk and Apache, taking troops to the battlefield and attacking missions. The service wants FLRAA to be capable of traveling roughly 2,440 nautical miles (or 2,810 miles) without refueling, but also to be agile enough to maneuver troops into dangerous hot spots.

The engineering and manufacturing development and low-rate production phase could be worth roughly $7 billion. If the "full complement" of aircraft are purchased across the entire life of the fleet, the program could be worth in the range of $70 billion to include potential foreign military sales, the Army's program executive officer for aviation, Maj. Gen. Rob Barrie, said during a Dec. 5 media roundtable.

The contract represents a milestone for the service as the Army hasn't procured two major helicopters since the 1980s and multiple efforts to buy other helicopters over the last several decades ended in failure. For instance, the service canceled the Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche helicopter program in 2004 after spending roughly $7 billion on its development.

Source: Defence News