WASHINGTON — The US Army is cancelling its next generation Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program, service officials announced today, taking a potential multi-billion-dollar contract off the table and throwing the service’s long-term aviation plans into doubt.
On the industry side, Bell and Sikorsky have spent years and a large amount of their own money working on the prototypes, while GE has worked on the long-delayed ITEP. Both prototype helos were slated for first flight this year but it is now unclear if or when they will ever get there.
From Sikorsky’s vantage point, the company said today that it remains committed to its prototype, the X2, “disappointed” with the Army’s decision and awaiting a debrief to better understand that choice. In an emailed statement to Breaking Defense, a Bell spokesperson said that although the company is also “disappointed,” it will “apply the knowledge and demonstrated successes of our FARA development efforts on future aircraft.”
Congresswoman Rosa de Lauro has expressed she’s ‘extremely disappointed’ the Army is ending its FARA program; Senator Chris Murphy had not yet released a statement.
“To provide the U.S. military and its allies a decisive advantage to deter conflict now and in the future, there must be a transformational improvement in rotorcraft systems capabilities – and a strong engineering workforce that can strengthen the nation’s leading edge in rotorcraft innovation,” the Sikorsky statement read. “We are disappointed in this decision and will await a U.S. Army debrief to better understand its choice.”
Read more:
Discover more from The CTL Tribune
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.