The US Army has taken the first tentative steps to design an all-new fleet of rotorcraft that could enter service after 2020.
The Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD) on 14 January issued a call for new rotorcraft designs from industry. Selected bidders will receive a 30-month, $3-4 million contract for configuration trades and analysis.
The next step for the army is the launch of a new technology demonstrator programme after 2013, potentially yielding an all-new aircraft that would be available to enter a final, three- to five-year development phase in 2020.
Details of the follow-on demonstrator effort have not been not disclosed, but Sikorsky officials have told Flight International that the AATD project has a $300 million budget.
Sikorsky also confirms the demonstrator would be aimed at boosting the speed of army rotorcraft. The service has set a threshold requirement of 170kt (315km/h) for a new vertical take-off and landing aircraft, which would match the speed of the fastest conventional helicopters. But it has also set an objective requirement, raising the potential speed of the new aircraft to 400kt.
That speed range encompasses a new crop of high-speed rotorcraft designs, including tiltrotors by Bell Boeing, compound helicopters in development by Piasecki and Eurocopter, and the coaxial rotor X2 being tested by Sikorsky.
The AATD has previously revealed a grand vision to replace the army's existing fleet, which includes the Bell Helicopter OH-58 Kiowa Warrior, Boeing AH-64 Apache and CH-47 Chinook and Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk. The so-called joint multi-role concept envisages a family of light-, medium-, heavy- and "ultra"-sized rotorcraft to replace the existing fleet.
It remains unclear if the army has the will or the budget needed to support a fleet-wide replacement strategy. But the AATD's call for new design concepts perhaps offers a clue about its resolve. The document says that "incremental" upgrades to the current fleet "will still leave significant capability gaps".
Source: Flight International
