US Army issues RFI for Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft

The US Army has issued a request for information (RFI) for a Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) to enter service in 2030.

The Sikorsky-Boeing SB>1 Defiant co-axial compound helicopter is one of two platforms developed for the JMR-TD effort. JMR-TD will feed into FLRAA requirement that the US Army is seeking as part of its wider FVL family of systems. (Sikorsky-Boeing )

The RFI, released on 4 April, covers the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk and Boeing AH-64 Apache-replacement that was previously known as Capability (Cap) Set 3 (Assault)/Future Vertical Lift (FVL)-Medium.

As noted in the solicitation, the FLRAA performance parameters broadly mirror those of Cap Set 3 (Assault)/FVL-Medium, for which the Joint MultiRole – Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) programme has seen Bell develop the V-280 Valor tiltrotor and Boeing-Sikorsky the SB>1 Defiant co-axial compound helicopter.

While the FLRAA effort will be led by the US Army, the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and the US Marine Corps (USMC) will look to follow with their own procurements approximately two years after the army. FLRAA mission sets will include utility, transport, troop insertion and exfiltration, close air support, medical evacuation, and V-22 tiltrotor escort.