Since the Army canceled plans to develop a Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft earlier this year, the two anticipated competitors, Textron’s Bell and Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky, have both moved to make use of their work on the program. The service is closing out its FARA effort at the end of fiscal 2024. Bell had installed the Army’s Improved Turbine Engine Program, or ITEP, engine in its 360 Invictus aircraft prototype, while Sikorsky began proposing using the ITEP engine in its FARA prototype, known as Raider X. The Army plans to replace all Black Hawk and AH-64 Apache attack helicopter engines with ITEP engines in the coming years. Sikorsky recently used the ITEP engine in its FARA prototype at its West Palm Beach, Florida, test center, with plans to test it in a Black Hawk later this year.
While Bell has redirected engineers to the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft program, expected to be fielded by 2031, Sikorsky is seeking a home for the X2 coaxial technology refined across its platforms. Sikorsky is pursuing a next-generation helicopter for Italy and the NATO Next-Generation Rotorcraft Capability, as well as early discussions with other countries regarding the X2 technology. Bell’s shift to the FLRAA program is allowing the effort to move faster than anticipated. Schloesser mentioned that work on a Modular Open System Architecture in the FARA program will benefit the FLRAA program.
