Army Issues RFI for Future Long Range Assault Aircraft Program

The U.S. Army commenced a market research effort to identify vendors that could help build a Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft platform to replace the service's UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.

In a FedBizOpps notice posted Thursday, the Army said it seeks an accelerated approach for a possible FLRAA program of record in which the branch will serve as the lead agency and the Special Operations Command will take part in the PoR.

The Army also envisions a U.S. Marine Corps procurement effort following in two years as part of the proposed "leader-follower" approach.

FLRAA will be designed to cruise 250 knots to 280 knots, perform a 500-feet-per-minute vertical rate of climb and fly at an altitude of 6K feet at a mission start with up to 12 passengers, among other capabilities.

The service wants to limit the aircraft’s cost to $43M per unit and aims to field the new platform by fiscal 2030.

Industry responses should provide information on weapon systems, aircraft design and methods to simplify the acquisition process for the FLRAA.

Issuance of preliminary design contracts are slated for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2021.