DEFIANT X, “It’ll do Everything the Black Hawk Did, Better”

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

Slicing through the sky faster than 230 knots, sleeking beneath the radar clutter, maneuvering just above buildings and mountainous terrain to deliver infantry into hostile fire for a massive, coordinated attack, are all mission sets planned for the Army’s now fast-emerging Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA).

Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA)

The FLRAA program is intended to fly alongside, complement and greatly expand upon the Army’s Black Hawk helicopter, with first fielding in the 2030s and fly well into the second half of the 21st century. 

It is part of the Future Vertical Lift program intended to improve, reshape and actually change paradigms for air attack and assault helicopter missions moving into future decades. 

The Army is now working with two competing vendors, Bell Helicopter and Lockheed Martin Sikorsky-Boeing, in a developmental phase for the FLRAA aircraft wherein designers and builders are submitting their formal configuration proposals. 

While both are being closely examined by the Army as possible options for a new generation of attack and utility helicopters, the designs are quite different. 

Bell Helicopter’s V-280 Valor is a Tiltrotor aircraft intended to advance beyond the capacities of today’s V-22 Osprey, while the Lockheed Martin Sikorsky-Boeing DEFIANT X much more closely mirrors the size, shapes and forms of existing Black Hawks. 

At the same time, while some of the length, height and width specifics of the DEFIANT X are comparable to a Black Hawk for both logistical and operational purposes, the new Lockheed Martin Sikorsky-Boeing offering introduces an entirely new, far more advanced helicopter.