Lockheed Martin Sikorsky and Boeing Protest US Army’s Assault Aircraft Decision

Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, has filed a formal protest asking the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review the US Army’s decision on the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) contract.

“Boeing supports the protest filed Dec 28 by our Team DEFIANT partner, asking the GAO to review the Army’s decision,” a Boeing statement said.

Based on a thorough review of the information and feedback provided by the Army, Lockheed Martin Sikorsky, on behalf of Team DEFIANT, is challenging the FLRAA decision, the company said. “The data and discussions lead us to believe the proposals were not consistently evaluated to deliver the best value in the interest of the Army, our Soldiers and American taxpayers,” the statement said.

“The critical importance of the FLRAA mission to the Army and our nation requires the most capable, affordable and lowest-risk solution. We remain confident DEFIANT X is the transformational aircraft the Army requires to accomplish its complex missions today and well into the future.”

Lockheed Martin Corp is protesting the US Army’s choice of Bell Textron Inc to build the service’s replacement for its mainstay Black Hawk assault helicopter by 2030, a potential $7 billion project that includes development and production if all options are awarded.

It was reported that the initial development contract is valued at as much as $1.3 billion and expected to take 19 months, according to the Army. The service had two different approaches to choose from. Bell won with a tilt-rotor aircraft called the V-280 Valor that’s derived from its tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey, which can take off and land like a helicopter and fly like a fixed-wing aircraft.  –adj/mgm/mhi (Pix: Lockheed Martin, Bell)

Main pix: DEFIANT concept image.