As some of America’s most sophisticated airborne weaponry—including the F-35A, EA-18G Growler, P-8A Poseidon, MQ-4C Triton and AIM-120D Amraam—head to Australia, Canberra is now saying g’day to the next generation of military rotorcraft being designed in the U.S. for Future Vertical Lift (FVL).
The Australian Defense Force (ADF) confirmed on Aug. 5 that the U.S. Army has formally invited it to participate in early discussions about FVL as the requirements are still being cemented. The soon-to-launch program seeks to usher in a new era of long-range, high-speed rotorcraft for the 21st century. It will produce a successor for all traditional helicopters in different size classes for all of the U.S. services, including long-serving Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk, Boeing AH-64 Apache and CH-47 Chinook aircraft.
Australia—the world’s sixth-largest importer of military equipment and a strategic U.S. ally in the Asia-Pacific region—rivals Israel in its pursuit of high-end American armaments. It is often quick to partner with emerging U.S. programs early in the requirements development stage like it did with the Joint Strike Fighter, Triton and Poseidon.
In this instance, Australia is sending a high-ranking army officer to participate in FVL discussions as the U.S. military rotorcraft community prepares to launch into its first Army-led FVL program of record.
Canberra is not paying to participate and is not a formal member of the FVL group, but as a longtime Black Hawk and Chinook operator, it will probably want whatever vertical-lift aircraft spins out of the program.
“The Australian and U.S. armies share an interest in the development of the future vertical-lift capability. As such, the U.S. Army has invited the Australian army to participate in an exchange of ideas in order to understand and prepare the next-generation of helicopters,” the ADF tells Aviation Week. “This exchange of ideas assists the Australian army to meet our future requirements as outlined in the 2016 Defense White Paper, and is occurring without a financial arrangement, membership or any other commitment from the Australian army. An Australian army lieutenant colonel, in his capacity as a liaison officer, is attending the U.S. Army forums to better understand and inform our army as to the U.S. approach.”
The statement confirms that Australia has become the first nation to dip its toes into the still-cool waters of FVL, seemingly undeterred by its protracted and expensive involvement in the multinational F-35 development effort that will introduce the Royal Australian Air Force’s first stealth fighter.
ADF says it is “privileged to be actively involved in the development of the next generation of the vertical-lift capability,” while making the point that no acquisition decision has been made and the Australian government will make those determinations “at an appropriate time.”
Confirmation of Australia’s participation in FVL discussions comes as the U.S. Army seeks a material development decision from the Pentagon that will trigger an analysis of alternatives for the first tranche of military rotorcraft to be produced under FVL. Once it hits full stride, FVL will be the second-largest military acquisition next to the F-35.
The service is currently partnered with Bell Helicopter and a Sikorsky-Boeing team for flight demonstrations of their competing V-280 Valor and SB-1 Defiant prototypes as a risk-reducing exercise. The military has also teamed with smaller design shops to test innovative vertical-lift concepts in the laboratory, like Karem’s optimum-speed tiltrotor and AVX’s coaxial compound helicopter.
A formal competition for a three-year technology maturation phase will begin in fiscal 2019, to be followed by a full-scale, six-year development effort in 2024. The Army expects to deliver the first war-ready FVL combat squadron in early 2030, although many in industry want the Army to move more quickly.
