Aviation - Adv Dev

The PE 0603801A: Aviation - Adv Dev program is a critical Army Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) line item focused on advanced component development and prototyping for future aviation platforms. This program directly supports the Army's Future Vertical Lift (FVL) modernization priority, which aims to develop a new family of vertical lift aircraft to replace the current fleet and provide enhanced capabilities for the Joint Force over the next several decades. The overarching goals are to increase maneuverability, range, speed, payload, survivability, and reliability of Army aviation assets, while reducing their logistics footprint and ensuring long-term industrial base viability.

B47: Future Vertical Lift is the largest component of this line item, with funding focused on the development of the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA). FLRAA is intended to provide transformational increases in range, speed, and payload over current platforms such as the Black Hawk. The program's objectives include engineering research, subsystem risk reduction, model-based systems engineering, and the maturation of open system architecture standards. FLRAA will support a broad range of missions, including air assault, medical evacuation, humanitarian assistance, and combat search and rescue, and is designed to operate in contested, near-peer threat environments. Activities included continued subsystem design, prototype manufacturing, and supportability analysis, with the program transitioning to the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase under a separate budget line.

CS7: FLRAA MTA (Middle Tier of Acquisition) supports rapid prototyping and virtual prototyping for FLRAA. Objectives for this line include the completion of a delta Preliminary Design Review, delivery of two virtual prototypes (a vehicle dynamic model and portable crew station), and support for Milestone B certification. These efforts are intended to accelerate user feedback, inform requirements, and reduce risk prior to full-scale development. The virtual prototypes are used for early tactics, techniques, and procedures experimentation and integration with Army labs, ensuring that the FLRAA program is informed by operational needs and digital engineering best practices.

CK7: FARA Ecosystem funded persistent experimentation and demonstration of technologies relevant to the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) and the broader FVL ecosystem in a Joint All Domain Operations (JADO) environment. The goal was to inform and refine requirements, accelerate technology development, and enable operational assessments of capability gaps. Activities included user feedback events such as the Experimental Demonstration Gateway Event (EDGE) and Project Convergence, which helped transition relevant science and technology investments and provided cost avoidance through industry Independent Research and Development (IRAD) contributions. The Army discontinued the FARA program beyond FY 2024, but funding supported the final prototyping and demonstration activities.

F12: Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) was designed to restore Army reconnaissance dominance by providing a next-generation crewed attack/reconnaissance platform with significant improvements in lethality, agility, and survivability. The program aimed to mitigate enemy long-range capabilities and enable joint force maneuver from sanctuary. FARA was powered by an improved turbine engine and featured modular open systems, advanced weapons, and launched effects. Prior to its discontinuation, FARA was executing a competitive prototyping effort, including parallel preliminary design and weapons system development. Funding supported program closeout, contract termination, technology transition, and a Congressional add for the All Electric Flight Control System, which involved prototype actuator testing and flight demonstration planning.

The acquisition strategies across these projects emphasize digital engineering, modular open systems, and hybrid acquisition approaches that leverage rapid prototyping, competitive demonstrations, and risk reduction activities. The Army has utilized Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements, industry partnerships, and iterative user feedback to inform requirements and accelerate development. The transition of FLRAA from advanced development to EMD and eventual procurement is structured to ensure timely delivery of capability, affordability, and sustainability, with the first unit equipped planned for FY 2030.