LAYING THE FOUNDATION


“Te Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft is the No. 1 prior- ity” in Army aircraft modernization, said McConville, the first aviator to rise to the position of Army chief of staff.


Te Army is developing both aircraft on an accelerated schedule using a competitive prototyping process. Te Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator for Future Vertical Lift will enable the Army to conduct ground and flight demonstrations; the results of those demonstrations will, in turn, inform FVL requirements.


SEARCH AND DESTROY


U.S. Army UH-1D helicopters airlift Soldiers during a search-and- destroy mission northeast of Cu Chi, South Vietnam, in 1966. The UH-1 Iroquois, popularly known as the Huey, was a mainstay of Army aviation during the Vietnam War. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class James K.F. Dung)


At the top of the list of FVL aircraft is the Future Attack Recon- naissance Aircraft, designed to carry a variety of payloads to defeat enemy unmanned systems and support ground troops. Also high on the priority list is the larger Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, which “will provide lethality by moving the force to the decisive point at the decisive time,” said Gen. James C. McConville, then vice chief of staff of the Army and now chief of staff, during his keynote speech April 15 at the Army Aviation Association of America (Quad-A) annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee.


Initial fielding of the new attack and assault aircraft is antici- pated in 2028-30, with the attack aircraft going to air cavalry squadrons. Te assault aircraft will go to units that have forced or early-entry missions, such as the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division and certain high-priority National Guard units, McConville said.


As it moves FVL from concept to reality, the Army is not simply going to divest its legacy aircraft. Like the Apache, which McConville noted will remain in the attack battalions and undergo incremental improvements, the Black Hawk and Chinook will certainly continue to fulfill critical missions and be upgraded as technology permits.


Te open question is, how many more useful years are left on these aircraft? Judging from discussions at the Quad-A annual meeting, a decade or more.


—MARGARET C. ROTH


ADVANCED TILTROTOR AIRCRAFT


Army researchers ready a unique tiltrotor model to support analysis and design of advanced tiltrotor aircraft, a possible key to achieving Army modernization goals for Future Vertical Lift. (U.S. Army illustration)


152


Army AL&T Magazine


Fall 2019


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