Competition for Big US Army Contract Pits Bell Against Sikorsky, Boeing

It's Official: Competition for Big Army Contract Pits Bell Against Sikorsky, Boeing (excerpt)

Fort Worth-based Bell took another step toward potentially winning a major military contract that could shape the company for decades to come.

On Monday, the U.S. Army selected two teams — Bell, part of Textron Inc., and a joint-effort between Sikorsky, part of Lockheed Martin Corp., and Boeing Co. — to proceed with the next steps in its Future Long Range Assault Aircraft program, which is designed to replace the aging UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.

The two teams will participate in what's called the Competitive Demonstration and Risk Reduction program in which they will each hone the designs of their aircraft before the Army ultimately picks a winner sometime in the next few years. The Army wants FLRAA aircraft to be in the military by 2030.

The move was widely expected, as Bell has been developing its V-280 Valor tiltrotor aircraft for years just like the Sikorsky-Boeing team, which is together making the SB>1 DEFIANT helicopter.

"The next phase is an opportunity for this team to build on the success of the last six years and continue to bring the proof that we can provide transformative capabilities to our Army in line with their stated goal of 2030," said Keith Flail, vice president, Advanced Vertical Lift Systems at Bell, in a prepared statement. (end of excerpt)

Click here for the full story, on the Dallas Business Journal website.

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