The Connecticut congressional delegation has pushed back on the Army’s decision to cancel its Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program, which impacted Sikorsky [LMT], based in their state, as one of the two competitors.
In a statement released after the Army’s announcement, Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), John Larson (D-Conn.), Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), Jim Himes (D-Conn.) and Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.) and Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said they’re “extremely disappointed” in the move to end development of FARA.
“We are extremely disappointed that the Army has decided to walk away from the FARA program. We have been told on multiple occasions by the Army that FARA was their number one priority. This is a complete reversal of that position,” the Connecticut lawmakers said. “We demand that the Army provides us with a detailed explanation of how they plan to achieve crucial aviation capabilities, thoughtfully prepare our national defense for the future, and utilize the exceptional and seasoned workforce at Sikorsky for generations to come.”
On Thursday, the Army announced it was canceling the potential multi-billion dollar FARA program, which was currently in a competitive prototyping phase with Sikorsky and Bell [TXT], as part of a slate of changes to its aviation modernization priorities (Defense Daily, Feb. 8).
“The Army is deeply committed to our aviation portfolio and to our partners in the aviation industrial base,” Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said in a statement. “These steps enable us to work with industry to deliver critical capabilities as part of the joint force, place the Army on a sustainable strategic path, and continue the Army’s broader modernization plan which is the service’s most significant modernization effort in more than four decades.”
FARA was the Army’s program to field a new scout attack helicopter, having selected Sikorsky’s Raider X and Bell’s 360 Invictus designs in March 2020 for the current competitive prototyping phase after both had participated in an initial design phase alongside several other firms dating back to June 2019.
“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. With a $1 billion investment, X2 aircraft offer speed, range and agility that no other helicopter in the world can match. We remain confident in X2 aircraft for U.S. and international mission needs now and in the future. We are disappointed in this decision and will await a U.S. Army debrief to better understand its choice,” the Stratford, Connecticut-based Sikorsky said in a statement on Thursday.
Bell and Sikorsky’s prototypes were on a projected path for first flights in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024, after the two vendors received the new General Electric Aerospace [GE]-built T901 helicopter engine this past October (Defense Daily, Oct. 24 2023). ‘
“We are disappointed by the decision on the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft program,” Bell said in a statement on the Army’s decision. “Bell remains confident in our ready-to-test FARA prototype for the Army’s requirements. We will apply the knowledge and demonstrated successes of our FARA development efforts on future aircraft.”
The major modernization shakeup is likely to face keen interest from Congress, particularly in the lead-up to the release of the fiscal year 2025 budget request, with DeLauro as Democrat’s top appropriator in the House, Courtney a member of the House Armed Services Committee, Murphy a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Blumenthal sitting on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
In a note on the Army’s announcement, Byron Callan of Capital Alpha Partners offered there might not be much Congress does on the subject in the upcoming budget cycle, while noting the service’s FY ‘24 budget request laid out a research and development spending plan for FARA that included $429 million in FY ‘24, $657 million in FY ‘25, $755 million in FY ‘26 and then $1.1 billion each in FY ‘27 and FY ‘28.
“We doubt Congress can or will do much about these changes as FY ‘24 is still to be determined and the FY ‘25 budget cap left still less room to accommodate changes and needs. The only read-through is a vague one that similar decisions could be forthcoming in the FY ‘25 budget as the DoD deals with changing needs and tighter resources,” Callan wrote.
Along with the FARA cancellation, the Army’s announcement yesterday also detailed plans to end production of the UH-60V Black Hawk digital cockpit upgrade, delay production of the GE T901 ITEP engine and move to retire Shadow and Raven drones, adding it would free up resources for investments in the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft, a new multi-year contract for UH-60Ms, eventual full-rate production of the CH-47F Block II Chinook and research and development into unmanned systems.
The Army said in its announcement that without reprioritizing funds in its “constrained aviation portfolio,” it faced “the unacceptable risk of decline and closure of production and sustainment lines” for the Chinook and Black Hawk fleets.
“The Army’s new plan will renew and extend production of both aircraft, while also sustaining the experienced workforce and vendor base that underpin the Army’s aviation capabilities,” the service said.
The Connecticut delegation offered similar remarks on the FLRAA program after the Army selected the Fort Worth, Texas-based Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor aircraft over a Sikorsky and Boeing [BA] team’s Defiant X coaxial rigid rotor helicopter offering in Dec. 2022 for the Black Hawk replacement program.
“The Army’s decision to award the contract to Bell, even though its product is reportedly WAY more expensive than the Sikorsky product, is going to end up bilking American taxpayers,” Murphy previously wrote in a social media post at the time.
When Murphy was named to the Appropriations Committee last year, he said in a statement he planned to be a strong proponent of Connecticut-based defense programs, including “making sure they get a fair shot at DoD contracts” (Defense Daily, Feb. 21 2023).