The US Army Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft, or FARA, developed in conjunction with the FLRAA, will likely serve as a close combat conductor for advanced unmanned aerial systems as well as provide support to troops on the ground.
In 2016 the Army retired its last recon helicopter, the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, without replacement. The mission is currently being filled by AH-64E Apache gunships teamed with RQ-7 Shadow drones. FARA, was announced, will replace half of the Apache fleet particularly the older D variant.
On April 23 2019, the US Army awarded $3.9B contracts to 5 pre-selected teams to design the new aircraft: AVX/L3 ($732M), Bell ($790M, which apparently will not offer a tilt-rotor), Boeing ($772M), Sikorsky ($938M) and Karem Aircraft ($738M). Two vendors are going to be selected in March 2020 and a winner expected to be chosen for final development in 2023.
On May 2019, Boeing unveiled its High Speed Apache which was followed in October by the Bell 360 Invictus and Sikorsky Raider X proposals
On March 2020, after the initial design and risk assessment, Bell 360 Invictus and Sikorsky Raider X proposals were both selected and awarded contracts for detailed design, build, and test of prototypes.
In 2016 the Army retired its last recon helicopter, the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, without replacement. The mission is currently being filled by AH-64E Apache gunships teamed with RQ-7 Shadow drones. FARA, was announced, will replace half of the Apache fleet particularly the older D variant.
On April 23 2019, the US Army awarded $3.9B contracts to 5 pre-selected teams to design the new aircraft: AVX/L3 ($732M), Bell ($790M, which apparently will not offer a tilt-rotor), Boeing ($772M), Sikorsky ($938M) and Karem Aircraft ($738M). Two vendors are going to be selected in March 2020 and a winner expected to be chosen for final development in 2023.
On May 2019, Boeing unveiled its High Speed Apache which was followed in October by the Bell 360 Invictus and Sikorsky Raider X proposals
On March 2020, after the initial design and risk assessment, Bell 360 Invictus and Sikorsky Raider X proposals were both selected and awarded contracts for detailed design, build, and test of prototypes.
FARA Contenders
AVX / L3
Karem
Established 2004, Karem Aircraft participated in several government funded programs such as DARPA's VTOL X-Plane (VXP) DoD's Joint Heavy Lift (JHL) and Joint Future Theater Lift (JFTL). Own funded initiatives underway by Karem includes the AeroTrain and AeroCommuter Optimum Speed Tiltrotors for passenger transportation.
Bell 360 Invictus
13-Aug-21 - Bell 360 Invictus is Taking Form #Invictus08-Jul-21 - Future Vertical Lift at Bell Lab in Arlington Texas #FVL
22-Jul-20 - Astronics Power Systems for Bell’ FARA and FLRAA #electric
29-Jun-20 - Mecaer Joined Invictus Team for FARA #TeamInvictus
24-Jun-20 - Bell Proposals for Future US Army Aviation #FVL
04-Jun-20 - Bell 360 Invictus Team
28-May-20 - Triumph to Supply Bell 360 Subsystems #Triumph
03-Apr-20 - Manufacturing Evolution at Bell Helicopters #manufacturing
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Sikorsky Raider X
15-Apr-21 - S-97 Raider Visit to Redstone Arsenal #Raider09-Aug-20 - Sikorsky in the Army Modernization Program
14-Oct-19 - Sikorsky Unveils Raider X for US Army FARA #RaiderX
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 #Raider Sikorsky S-97 Raider helicopter completed demonstration agility at the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama home of US Army Future Vertical Lift (FVL) team |
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 #drones Sikorsky and DARPA fly the optionally piloted vehicle (OPV) Black Hawk helicopter with supervised autonomy |
 #DefiantX The Sikorsky / Boeing team announced Defiant X as its proposal for the US Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) competition. Will compete against a derivative of the Bell V-280 Valor in 2022 |
14-Jan-21 - Bell V-280 Agility Testing
#agility 21-Dec-20 - 200 Flight Hours for Bell V-280 Valor #FLRAA
15-Oct-20 - SB>1 Defiant Achieved 211 Knots
#Defiant 19-Sep-20 - Army Experimental Test Pilots Fly V-280 Valor #Redstone
10-Aug-20 - Bell New Manufacturing Technology Center
#manufacturing 09-Aug-20 - Sikorsky in the Army Modernization Program
22-Jul-20 - Astronics Power Systems for Bell’ FARA and FLRAA #electric
21-Jul-20 - Rolls-Royce Engines for V-280 Valor #RollsRoyce
14-Jul-20 - Army Searches Configurations for Future Helicopters
29-Jun-20 - Mecaer Joined Invictus Team for FARA #TeamInvictus
24-Jun-20 - Bell Proposals for Future US Army Aviation
#FVL 23-Jun-20 - Army VIPER Lab Speeds Changes to Helicopters #mechanics
16-Jun-20 - Defiant Reached 205 Knots
#Speed 04-Jun-20 - Bell 360 Invictus Team
28-May-20 - Triumph to Supply Bell 360 Subsystems #Triumph
16-May-20 - SB-1 Defiant in High Speed Trials
31-Mar-20 - Bell 360 Selected to Continue in FARA Competition #FARA
17-Mar-20 - Bell V-280 Selected to Continue in FLRAA Competition #FLRAA
03-Mar-20 - Boeing Unveils US Army FARA Proposal
#BoeingFARA 19-Jan-20 - SB>1 Defiant Reached 100 Knots
#Defiant 28-Oct-19 - Laying the Foundation for Army Aviation #ArmyAviation
18-Oct-19 - AVX / L3Harris FARA Helicopter at AUSA 2019
#FARA 16-Oct-19 - Honeywell to Upgrade Chinook’ T55 Engines #T55
14-Oct-19 - Sikorsky Unveils Raider X for US Army FARA
#RaiderX 02-Oct-19 - Bell 360 Invictus Announced for US Army FARA #Invictus
27-Sep-19 - Bell Teaming with Collins for US Army FARA #FARA
22-Sep-19 - Marines Starts UH/AH-1 Replacement Process #AURA
03-Jul-19 - Karem Announced FARA Competitive Prototype Team #Karem
29-May-19 - Higher Speed for Future US Army Tilt-Rotor
#HighSpeed 19-May-19 - Boeing Unveil High Speed Apache #Apache
18-Apr-19 - AVX/L3 Unveiled its FARA Design
#FARA 16-Apr-19 - Collins Aerospace in Development of Future Vertical Lift #JointMultiRole
06-Apr-19 - US Army Could Select Future Aircraft by 2020 #FARA
24-Oct-18 - US Army Future Vertical Lift Projects #FutureLift
30-Oct-15 - US Army Discuss Future Vertical Lift Architecture
