While prototype testing is ongoing, the first production representative aircraft will be delivered to soldiers as low-speed production begins, Col. Jeffrey Poquette, the Army's Future Long-Range Attack Aircraft (FLRAA) program manager, told Defense News. Acceleration in 2028 announced their plans.
Army leadership has set a goal to accelerate FLRAA fielding as part of a newly launched transformation initiative. While there are significant risks to accelerating large acquisition programs, Army aviation officials and Textron’s Bell, which was selected to develop the program, emphasize that this program is unique, citing significant risks mitigated by digital design, engineering processes and a technology demonstration study in which Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor flew more than 200 hours.
Colonel Poquette stated that in the traditional process, prototypes are built and then the testing phase is started, and there is not much production during the tests. However, he stated that they will take a different approach this time, saying, “We will not accelerate the tests. We will not accelerate the design. They are already very compressed, but what we can do is take some risks and say maybe we can build the aircraft during the test.” It is known that programs are normally tested with prototypes for about two years before production decisions are made.
Bell said it is currently testing the aircraft in the background with eight prototypes already built, with production aircraft to follow. The Army is aiming for an early production decision before the Milestone C (production) decision in 2027. This will be possible thanks to the option to use a low-rate production lot already included in the existing contract with Bell.
While so-called concurrency—a program’s choice to produce systems before proving the final design with a test program—has led to program delays and even cancellations in the past, Bell and the Army are confident this time will be different. Emphasizing Bell’s “very high confidence” in digital engineering, Colonel Poquette said the results “will be very close, if not perfect.”
Bell’s FLRAA program manager, Ryan Ehinger, said the process is a continuum of production from prototypes to early production representative aircraft. He also said that the experience gained in the Joint Multi-Mission Technology Demonstrator (JMR TD) program and the advanced manufacturing technologies and techniques they have developed since then support this process. Bell also produces critical components such as wings, propellers and gearboxes. “We have a manufacturing technology center that has been iterating on some of these designs for years,” Ehinger said.
Another important step the Army plans to take to increase the speed of fielding is to complete full-rate production in four or five years instead of seven or eight. Colonel Poquette emphasized that they want Bell to build capacity faster to reach full-rate production, saying that this will allow them to have one battalion 18 months early and two battalions 30 months early.
Although the initial operational test program (IOT&E) was initially scheduled to run in late fiscal year 2031, the Army could enter that phase more quickly because it already has aircraft built, according to Colonel Poquette. In fiscal year 2028 or 2029 This accelerated delivery schedule will provide a significant advantage in meeting the Army’s future operational needs and modernization goals.
