Lockheed Martin Sikorsky and Boeing filed the protest with GAO concerning the award of FLRAA contract to Bell V-280 Valor

The Bell V-280 has beaten the Sikorsky Defiant X to the US Army’s FLRAA program.

Lockheed Martin Sikorsky and Boeing are challenging the US Army’s decision on the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) contract. As the prime contractor, Sikorsky, Lockheed Martin company, filed the protest with the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The statement from the Lockheed Martin Sikorsky-Boeing Team says:

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

‘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 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 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.’

As already reported, the Bell V-280 has beaten the Sikorsky Defiant X to the US Army’s FLRAA program.

On Dec. 5, 2022 Bell Textron had been awarded the development contract for the US Army’s FLRAA program. The award is based on Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor that was developed and tested as part of the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR TD) program that began in 2013.

The initial contract refines the weapon system design, sustainment, digital enterprise, manufacturing, systems integration, flight-testing, and airworthiness qualification.

After Bell Textron has been awarded the development contract for the US Army’s FLRAA program, Sikorsky released the following statement on US Army FLRAA decision: ‘We remain confident Defiant X is the transformational aircraft the US Army requires to accomplish its complex missions today and well into the future. We will evaluate our next steps after reviewing feedback from the Army.’

Photo credit: Lockheed Martin Sikorsky, Bell via The Darth Designer and Team Defiant