Low flying Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow. (Boeing)
US Army officials are looking to develop an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, specifically for the ground service's fleet of combat rotorcraft, according to a November request for information (RFI).
The Apache Attack Helicopter (PM AAH) office, within the Program Executive Office for Aviation (PEO AVN), is leading the development of the ASEA radar variant, the RFI stated. The radar will be designed to meet programme requirements for the service's AH-64 Apache, UH-60 Black Hawk, CH-47 Chinook, and Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA).
US Army officials approved the Bell V-280 Valor to enter the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase for the FLRAA programme in August, clearing the way for work on the prototype and low-rate initial production (LRIP).
Bell is set to build six prototypes of the Black Hawk replacement, with the first scheduled to fly in 2026. LRIP aircraft are scheduled for production in 2028, and the type's entry into service is expected in 2030. EMD approval came after the V-280 cleared preliminary design review (PDR) in April.
The capabilities aboard the AESA radar being sought by the army for the FLRAA and its current rotorcraft fleet will include fire control, pilot aid in Degraded Visual Environments (DVEs), airborne hazard detection, terrain following and avoidance, and shoreline mapping using augmented reality (AR) techniques, according to the RFI.
Industry prototypes will be evaluated during test exercises at Army Test and Evaluation Command's Redstone Test Center (RTC) at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, service officials wrote in the RFI. Test and evaluation scenarios will include “attack profiles for ground, air, and littoral targeting”, they added.
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