Boeing finished in January six wind tunnel tests on a small-scale model of an AH-64E Block II Apache compound helicopter, Rotor & Wing International reported Friday.
Textron CEO Scott Donnelly said foreign military sales may help its Bell Helicopter subsidiary maintain military revenues over the next decade as it is scheduled to complete its V-22 tiltrotor program with Boeing in 2024, AINonline reported Monday.
A pair of Honeywell-made turboshaft engines powered a new U.S. Army-commissioned future vertical lift aircraft during a test in late March. The T55 engines helped the Sikorsky-Boeing-made SB-1 Defiant demonstrator perform initial flight, supporting the Army's goal of sustaining a modern aviation fleet, Honeywell said Monday.
Collins Aerospace will design and demonstrate an architecture as a mission systems integrator for a U.S. Army program that seeks to build a new fleet of U.S. military helicopters.
Ron Hutter and Mike Sousa of General Electric told Defense News in an interview published Thursday about the company’s proposed technology for the U.S. Army’s Improved Turbine Engine Program. ITEP seeks to build a new engine for integration with the service branch’s existing helicopters and aircraft under the Future Vertical Lift program. Hutter, executive director […] More
Boeing and Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky subsidiary expect the SB>1 Defiant compound helicopter to have the initial flight in December, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday. The two companies have teamed up to design and propose the aircraft for the U.S. Army’s Future Vertical Lift program. The service considers Defiant and the Bell V-280 Valor tiltrotor for the FVL initiative. Randy Rotte, director of FVL […] More
Boeing and Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky subsidiary have begun testing the SB-1 Defiant coaxial helicopter in preparation for its initial flight as part of the U.S. Army’s Joint Multi-Role program, Defense News reported Wednesday. The service has started to evaluate two flight demonstrator aircraft – Defiant and Bell V-280 Valor tiltrotor – through the JMR initiative […] More
Lt. Gen. Mike Murray, deputy chief of staff for program development at the U.S. Army, has said he thinks the service branch’s future vertical lift program would be an “optionally manned†helicopter, Flight Global reported Friday. Leigh Giangreco writes the Army leads the FVL program as a joint initiative with the U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force. Murray noted […] More
A U.S. Marine Corps official has said he believes the service branch’s future vertical lift program should operate as an optionally piloted helicopter designed to perform some missions, Flight Global reported Friday. “Especially for a high reliability airplane, we view that airplane as a manned platform,†Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, Marine Corps deputy commandant for aviation, told […] More
Nick Lappos, chairman of the Vertical Lift Consortium, has proposed the creation of a team that would focus on the production of common parts for installation on five different aircraft proposed under the Future Vertical Lift program, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday. Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. writes the VLC advises the Defense Department on the FVL […] More