Marines Release RFI For Future Attack/Utility Aircraft, Bell Interested With V-280

On the same subject

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  October 6, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Safran Helicopter Engines strengthens its European team around Ardiden 3TP with ITP Aero in Spain

  5 October 2020, Bordes Safran Helicopter Engines and the Spanish aero-engine company ITP Aero have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to cooperate on Ardiden 3TP, a turboprop engine suitable for European military applications – specifically the unmanned, training and transport sectors. The Spanish aero engine specialist strengthen the European team with Safran Helicopter Engines, and ZF Aviation Technology in Germany. Ardiden 3TP is a 100% European solution based on Safran's Ardiden 3 core engine and featuring technologies developed through its Tech TP technological demonstrator, which ran for the first time in June 2019. Alvaro Santodomingo, ITP Aero Defence Business Unit Executive Director, said: "A collaboration with Safran Helicopter Engines in this engine is an important opportunity for us. Our aero-engine technologies and capabilities will significantly benefit this engine propulsive system, lowering operating and maintenance costs, while supporting future Spanish industrial capabilities". Commented Florent Chauvancy, Safran Helicopter Engines EVP OEM Sales, "We are proud to welcome ITP Aero into this exciting project. We are committed to delivering the Ardiden 3TP, a 100% European engine featuring high levels of design maturity and competitive operating and maintenance costs. It will be designed, built and supported by highly-experienced teams using state-of-the-art industrial capabilities in Germany, Spain and France. For European nations seeking to protect their national interests, in civil or military fixed-wing programs, Ardiden 3TP is the natural choice." The Ardiden 3TP will be optimized for operation at medium and high altitudes, up to 45,000 feet, and be easy to operate -- thanks to a unique throttle and Full Authority Digital Engine and Propeller Control (FADEPC) controlling power and propeller pitch. MT-Propeller will contribute to the propeller. It is based on Tech TP, a Clean Sky 2 research and innovation programme validating the technologies necessary to develop a new-generation turboprop. Since June 2019, tests have progressed at a steady pace. Featuring a compact and lightweight architecture, Tech TP offers 15 per cent lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions (over current engines). It is one of the first Clean Sky 2 demonstrators to enter its test phase. More than 20 partners from eight European countries are contributing to the project. The Ardiden 3 is a new-generation core engine in the 1,700 to 2,000 shp power range. Two EASA-certified models, the Ardiden 3C and 3G, have completed over 10,000 hours of tests, confirming high levels of design maturity and competitive operating and maintenance costs. In addition, more than 250 Ardiden 1 engines have flown over 200,000 hours. The Ardiden 3 features a remarkably compact modular architecture, a best-in-class power-to-weight ratio and a low cost-of-ownership. https://www.safran-helicopter-engines.com/media/safran-helicopter-engines-strengthen-its-european-team-around-ardiden-3tp-itp-aero-spain-20201001

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  May 18, 2021 | International, Aerospace

  New trinational deal paves way for FCAS demonstrator program

  Nearly four years after the pan-European Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program was first brought to light, the three partner nations have reached a deal to develop a demonstrator fighter aircraft by 2027.

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  March 26, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Lockheed and Bell will compete head-to-head to build US Army’s future attack recon aircraft

  By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin-owned company, and Bell have been selected to build and fly Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) prototypes for the U.S. Army in a head-to-head competition, according to a March 25 Army statement. The Army is planning to procure both a FARA and Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) that will slowly replace the current fleet of Sikorsky-manufactured UH-60 Black Hawks utility helicopters and Boeing-made AH-64 Apache attack helicopters. The service plans to initially field both in the 2030s. FARA will fill a critical capability gap currently being filled by AH-64E Apache attack helicopters teamed with Shadow unmanned aircraft following the retirement of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters. The service has tried and failed three times to fill the gap with an aircraft. The Army had selected five teams to provide FARA designs last spring: AVX Aircraft Co. partnered with L-3 Communications Integrated Systems, Bell, Boeing, Karem Aircraft and Sikorsky. The Army laid out a handful of mandatory requirements that the vendors had to meet and also a list of desired requirements for initial designs, Col. Craig Alia, the Future Vertical Lift Cross Functional Team chief of staff, told reporters last year. The service also looked at the vendors' execution plans and evaluated timing as well as funding profile requirements. “The ones that were selected were clearly meeting the mandatory requirements and were in the acceptable risk level of the execution plan and the desired requirements," Dan Bailey, who is the FARA competitive prototype program manager, added. The prototype program falls under the purview of the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation and Missile Center's Aviation Development Directorate. Lockheed unveiled its design — Raider X — at the Association of the U.S. Army's annual conference in October 2019. The company's design uses its Raider X2 coaxial technology with a focus on how it will perform “at the X.” “One thing that always comes out is the importance of this aircraft at the X,” Tim Malia, Sikorsky's director of future vertical lift light, told Defense News in an interview last fall. “The ‘X' is defined by the Army as the terminal area where they actually have to go do the work, do the reconnaissance, do the attack mission. The operation at the X is really critical for this program and for this platform.” That's where Raider X comes in. It's a slightly larger version of the Raider coaxial helicopter that Lockheed has been flying for several years at its West Palm Beach, Florida, flight test center. “Through our mature S-97 RAIDER technology demonstrator, we continue to optimize our FARA solution, which will provide the Army with an integrated weapon system that combines speed, range, maneuverability, survivability and operational flexibility," Andy Adams, Sikorsky's vice president of future vertical lift, said in a March 25 statement. This approach is driving down risk and will result in an aircraft solution that is capable of executing the Army's joint all-domain operations." Bell revealed its design — the Bell 360 Invictus — which is based on 525 technology. But its design features several key differences, including its size in order to adhere to the Army requirement of 40-foot in diameter rotor blades. The design includes a single main rotor helicopter in a four-blade configuration, a low-drag tandem cockpit fuselage and transportability in a C-17. “Bell is proud to continue work on the Bell 360 Invictus as part of the Army's Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft Competitive Prototype competition,” Keith Flail, Bell's vice president of advanced vertical lift systems, told Defense News on March 25. “We have made significant investment and begun manufacturing in order to preserve the Army's schedule for FARA CP and we are thrilled to continue our work on the Invictus,” he said. “Bell's approach from the beginning has been tailored to deliver the advanced performance required without excessive complexity in order to get critical capability in the hands of the warfighter quickly and affordably.” The AVX and L3 team was the earliest to unveil its design for the FARA competition at the Army Aviation Association of America's annual summit in Nashville, Tennessee, in April 2019. The design uses AVX's compound coaxial and ducted fans technology. The companies said its single-engine design meets 100 percent of the Army's mandatory requirements and 70 percent of its desired attributes. Karem announced it would team with Northrop and Raytheon and came out with its design at AUSA — its AR-40 — with a single main rotor, tilting compound wings and a rotating tail rotor. Boeing was the last to reveal its design, coming out with it March 3. The company's clean-sheet design featured a hingeless, six-bladed, high-solidity main rotor; a four-bladed conventional tail rotor; and a propeller on the back. The prototype aircraft are expected to start flying in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022, and the flight test is expected to run through 2023. The engineering and manufacturing development phase is expect to begin in FY24. https://www.defensenews.com/smr/army-modernization/2020/03/25/lockheed-and-bell-will-compete-head-to-head-to-build-us-armys-future-attack-recon-aircraft