Bell Textron
Textron Inc (NYSE: TXT) announced this week that Bell Textron Inc. has been awarded the billion-dollar development contract for the U.S. Army’s next generation Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft program.
Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor was developed and tested as part of the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator program that began in 2013. The V-280 progressed through design, manufacturing, and more than three years of rigorous flight testing that provided extensive data validating the technical and operational advantages of the aircraft for the long-range assault mission.
“This is an exciting time for the U.S. Army, Bell, and Team Valor as we modernize the Army’s aviation capabilities for decades to come,” said Mitch Snyder, president and CEO of Bell. “Bell has a long history supporting Army Aviation and we are ready to equip Soldiers with the speed and range they need to compete and win using the most mature, reliable, and affordable high-performance long-range assault weapon system in the world.”
The helicopter will replace the Army’s Sikorsky Black Hawk, which has been in service for the last five decades. The Army is seeking to retire more than 2,000 Black Hawks. Bell won the contract over Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky and Boeing’s Defiant X helicopter. Sikorsky is headquartered in Stratford, Connecticut.
The Army said the initial award was for $232 million, but the first batch of helicopters will be worth $7.1 billion, according to Reuters. In totality, the contract could be worth about $70 billion over several decades, depending on how many the Army and U.S. allies order.
Fort Worth-based Bell employs more than 4,000.
“This historic decision will preserve and expand our world-class workforce here in Texas,” said Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker on Twitter. “This is a historic win for Bell and Team Valor, and a big win for the state of Texas.”
This award builds on a decade of the V-280 Valor’s progress through design, manufacturing, and thorough testing to demonstrate that this aircraft will deliver on the FLRAA program requirements. Bell and its industry partners have systematically validated the V-280 aircraft and their modular open systems approach in collaboration with the Army.
“We are honored that the U.S. Army has selected the Bell V-280 Valor as its next-generation assault aircraft," said Scott C. Donnelly, Textron’s chairman and chief executive officer. "We intend to honor that trust by building a truly remarkable and transformational weapon system to meet the Army’s mission requirements. We are excited to play an important role in the future of Army Aviation."
“For the past several years the Bell team demonstrated the exceptional operational capabilities, digital thread synergies, and platform affordability enhancements the V-280 provides,” said Keith Flail, executive vice president, Advanced Vertical Lift Systems at Bell. “Bell stands ready with our world-class manufacturing facilities to apply our nearly seven decades of tiltrotor expertise to deliver a modern FLRAA fleet to the Army.”
The initial contract refines the weapon system design, sustainment, digital enterprise, manufacturing, systems integration, flight-testing, and airworthiness qualification.
This award builds on Bell’s history of more than 85 years delivering over 30,000 trusted vertical lift products to military and commercial customers in the U.S. and around the world.