Rotorcraft manufacturer Bell is expecting a decision “any day” from the US Army that will formally launch acquisition of the new Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA).
The Textron subsidiary has been working quietly for over a year to finalise cost, schedule and performance targets for the $80 billion aircraft development effort, which will see the army purchase thousands of next-generation tiltrotors from Bell.
“The future is here on the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft,” says Lisa Atherton, Bell’s chief executive officer. “We do expect to hear the government decision on Milestone B any day.”
In Pentagon parlance, Milestone B marks the official start of an acquisition programme, launching the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase that precedes low-rate initial production.
That decision will see the creation of a FLRAA programme office and the release of formal performance targets, including an acquisition timeline. Bell has been working toward Milestone B since April 2023, when US government auditors affirmed the army’s selection of Bell as the FLRAA vendor, dismissing a challenge by rival Lockheed Martin.
Once the EMD phase begins, Bell’s engineers will produce a final design for the FLRAA tiltrotor – formerly known as the V-280 Valor. The army has yet to reveal the type’s internal service designation.
Among the other anticipated programme decisions is where Bell will produce the aircraft, which could eventually see thousands of examples produced for the US Army, US Special Operations Command and any overseas customers.
Bell assembles its other marquee rotorcraft in Amarillo, Texas, including the UH-1Y Venom, AH-1Z Viper and V-22 Osprey.
“I absolutely believe Amarillo will be our final assembly operations,” says Scott Donnelly, chief executive of Bell parent company Textron. “The workforce there has done a spectacular job on our V-22 and H-1 programmes over the years.”
Maintaining that skilled workforce while FLRAA ramps up is major concern for Bell. H-1 production is winding down, with fulfilment underway on a final order for 12 AH-1Z attack helicopters for Nigeria.
New production of the Osprey tiltrotor for the US Navy and US Marine Corps (USMC) is also set to conclude in the coming years. In the interim workers at Bell’s Amarillo site will be occupied with several overhaul programmes, including structural and electrical upgrades to the USMC’s H-1 fleet and a nacelle improvement effort for existing V-22s.
The company also plans to produce the forthcoming Bell 525 commercial helicopter in Amarillo.
“Having that amount of work go through preserves the workforce that we need there,” says Atherton. She expects that early FLRAA work will start arriving in Amarillo by 2026.
“We call it ‘Tiltrotor Texas’,” she adds. “There is nowhere else on the planet that can do what those folks do.”
