After years of development, prototyping and test flights, in Learly December 2022 the US Army announced that Bell Textron's Valor tiltrotor has won its Future LongRange Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) competition to be the successor to the aging UH-60 Black Hawk and a key component of the Army's future force. The announcement gives Bell a massive victory not just in America but with the global community of 28 Black Hawk operators, many of whom are likely to follow the US Army's lead when looking for a replacement in the future.
In a subsequent call with reporters, several Army officials provided additional details about the new contract. In total, they said, this current deal is worth up to $1.3 billion with the initial obligation valued at $232 million over the next 19 months.
Major General Robert Barrie, the US Army's Programme Executive Officer for Aviation, said the initial dollar figure will allow Bell to continue onward with the preliminary design of the aircraft and deliver 'virtual prototypes of a potentially model-based system.""There are zero aircraft being procured in the initial portion," the two-star general said. If the aircraft moves into production, though, the programme could soar up to $70 billion over its lifetime. "This is an exciting time for the US Army, Bell and Team Valor as we modernise the US Army's aviation capabilities for decades to come," Mitch Snyder, president and CEO of Bell, said in a brief statement.
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