Future Vertical Lift (Maritime Strike)

The Future Vertical Lift (Maritime Strike) (FVL (MS)) program is a key Navy initiative under Program Element PE 0604292N, focused on developing next-generation vertical lift capabilities for maritime strike missions. This program aims to address critical warfighting gaps that will emerge as legacy rotary wing platforms such as the MH-60R, MH-60S, and MQ-8C reach the end of their service lives beginning in the mid-2030s. The overarching goal is to develop and field advanced, reliable, and maintainable crewed and uncrewed rotorcraft systems that support a wide range of Navy operational needs, including Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO).

Specific objectives of the FVL (MS) program include supporting long-range Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Targeting (ISR&T), as well as enhancing capabilities in Surface Warfare, Undersea Warfare (including Anti-Submarine and Mine Warfare), Air Warfare, Electronic Warfare, Naval Special Warfare, Personnel Recovery, Patient Movement, Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief, and Combat Logistics. The program is structured to enable the timely development of a Family of Systems (FoS) that delivers best value and capability to the warfighter, while aligning with the Navy's 15-year Aviation Plan and 30-year Shipbuilding Plan.

Project 2940: Future Vertical Lift (Maritime Strike) is the primary line item within this program, directing developmental activities necessary for the replacement of current Navy helicopters in the 2040+ timeframe. Key activities include capability requirements definition, affordability studies, security environment establishment, and the production of acquisition documentation such as the Acquisition Strategy, Life Cycle Cost Estimate, Life Cycle Sustainment Plan, Systems Engineering Plan, and Draft Capability Development Document. The project also encompasses risk reduction initiatives, design trade studies, and support for joint vertical lift initiatives, including the development of open hardware and software architectures, mission system interoperability, and shipboard compatibility.

In FY 2026, funding for Project 2940 supports pre-Milestone A activities, including analyses, studies, and the development of acquisition documentation. Tasks performed include program management, engineering modeling and analysis, conceptual design trade studies, and virtual simulation. These efforts cover the conceptual design of air vehicles, avionics, propulsion, communications, weapons, human systems integration, survivability, reliability, training, logistics, sensors, flight control, and software/hardware architecture. Support for these activities is provided by government agencies such as the Naval Research Labs and DARPA, academic institutions, and industry partners.

Project 9999: Congressional Adds includes targeted funding for advanced vertical lift rotor technology. This congressional add supports contract development efforts and associated government engineering support, specifically focusing on the advancement of rotor technology through partnerships with entities such as AVX Aircraft Company and NAWCAD at Patuxent River, MD. The objective is to mature critical rotor technologies that can be leveraged in future vertical lift platforms, thereby supporting the broader goals of the FVL (MS) program.

The acquisition strategy for FVL (MS) began with an Analysis of Alternatives initiated in FY 2022 and completed in FY 2023, which recommended pre-Milestone A efforts and a Milestone A program entry. The schedule for FY 2026 includes continued program planning, documentation, concept development, technology maturation, risk reduction, and modular open systems approach integration. Key milestones include Gate 2 events, concept of operations and capability requirements development, sensor trade studies, crewed/uncrewed teaming architecture studies, and weapons integration risk reduction.