FVL: Army’s High-Speed Helicopters Hurtle Ahead

The most urgent program in the portfolio is the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA), a high-speed light scout to replace the retired OH-58 Kiowa. The two contenders, Bell (part of Textron) and Sikorsky (Lockheed Martin), are about to submit their final designs.

“Our Final Design & Risk Review comes in November of this year,” Barrie told me. After that, he said, “those competitive prototype designs will be locked.”