Darwin McDaniel
Airbus’ helicopter manufacturing division has joined the U.S. Army's Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft competition seeking a new armed scout rotorcraft to replace the service's retired fleet of Bell OH-58 Kiowa Warriors, Flightglobal reported Wednesday.
FARA aims to replace the Army's Kiowa Warriors with new high-speed military helicopters in the mid-2020s.
Airbus Helicopters CEO Bruno Even said the company has proposed an aircraft design based on its X3 technology, which recorded a speed of more than 290 miles per hour before it was retired in 2014.
Even said Airbus is enhancing the technology to meet future military requirements for high-speed helicopters.
The Army plans to select the six initial designs for FARA by mid-2019 and to announce the winning bid in 2024.
Other companies competing for FARA include Textron’s Bell subsidiary, an L3 Technologies-AVX Aircraft team and Boeing–Lockheed Martin's Sikorsky subsidiary.
