U.S. Army

By Brian Everstine
The Army wants its Black Hawk replacement fielded quickly, though the schedule faces uncertainty as the Government Accountability Office reviews Bell’s award.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The upgrade is Honeywell’s answer to a move by GE Aviation to offer the more powerful T408 turboshaft engine as a future upgrade option.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
A design change of the Bell 360 Invictus was driven by the release of the U.S. Army ’s list of requirements for mission systems, the company’s CEO said Oct. 7.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
Northrop’s engineers are actively discussing a new version of the unmanned RQ-4 with the Army that would require substantial modifications to the baseline aircraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The U.S. Army’s 35 modernization priorities all survived budget reviews in the first months of the Biden Administration for the fiscal 2022 budget request, but there may be a wave of major spending changes in fiscal 2023.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Graham Warwick
With the U.S. Army looking to maintain the capability of its legacy helicopter fleet even as it moves to modernize the force with advanced rotorcraft, continued progress with a new engine program is becoming crucial to its plans.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
A solicitation for the Adaptive Resilient Engineered Structures program, published on April 20 by the Aviation Applied Technology Directorate, calls for technologies that could be demonstrated in a relevant operational environment—or a Technology Readiness Level of 6—between fiscal 2023 and 2026.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The U.S. Army has made an unspecified investment in an Air Force Research Laboratory-developed high power microwave weapon against drone swarms, AFRL
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Steve Trimble
A “special notice” published on Feb. 2 by the Tactical Aviation and Ground Munitions Project Office defines a plan to stage of shoot-off of candidate designs in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Graham Warwick
Sikorsky and Boeing have taken the wraps off their Defiant X offering for the U.S. Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft requirement, and the design differs only in detail externally from the SB-1 Defiant technology demonstrator now in flight test.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Development of compact, efficient rotary internal-combustion engines able to run on jet fuel has been boosted by U.S. Army contracts to advance the technology for unmanned-aircraft propulsion and rotorcraft auxiliary-power applications.
AUSA

By Steve Trimble
The Army ordered the Iron Dome systems in August 2019 to plug a gap in defenses against cruise missiles while it continues to shop for a permanent solution.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Lee Hudson
The U.S. Army conducted its first flight of a NCH-47 Chinook equipped with the GE Aviation T408 engine, which is the same turboshaft engine outfitting the CH-53K King Stallion.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The U.S. Army expected to take delivery on June 30 of the Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System (EMARSS)-V from Sierra Nevada’s upgrade facility in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Defense

By Lee Hudson
The service says there are sufficient quantities of the airborne system to support the National Defense Strategy.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
The U.S. Army is seeking $513.5 million in fiscal 2021 for the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft, up from $398.3 in fiscal 2020, the first year of the program
Defense

By Lee Hudson
The service’s fiscal 2021 budget request once again attempts to defer Block II upgrades for conventional forces Chinooks, but includes money to upgrade special operations forces MH-47Gs.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
The biggest change is in procurement of the Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk, which is reduced as planned to 36 aircraft from 74 in 2020.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
The U.S. Army has outlined its vision of a mission system architecture for its Future Vertical Lift platforms that will allow upgrades to be fielded rapidly to counter emerging threats and overcome obsolescence over their life cycle.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
The demo will showcase the capability designed into the V-280’s fly-by-wire flight control system.
Defense

By Lee Hudson
The introduction of a VTOL unmanned aircraft to each platoon will be staggered monthly beginning in April.
Aircraft & Propulsion