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Fort Worth-based manufacturer awarded billion-dollar U.S. Army aircraft contract to replace Black Hawk helicopters

The deal with Bell Textron, Incorporated is reportedly worth up to $1.3 billion.

FORT WORTH, Texas — The United States Army has awarded a billion-dollar contract to a Fort Worth-based aircraft manufacturer. 

The Army awarded a Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) contract to Bell Textron, Incorporated on Tuesday. 

The deal, according to Defense News, is worth up to $1.3 billion.

The contract was awarded as a part of the FLRAA program the Army started in 2019 as a part of the Future Vertical Lift initiative to replace a portion of its assault and utility helicopter fleet. The program was created with the intent to eventually replace the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, which the Army said has been in service for more than 40 years. 

Credit: AP
In this Monday, March 19, 2018 photo, UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters carrying US ... and Afghan trainees take off at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan. The U.S. military has been flying UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter missions in Afghanistan for years, but the storied aircraft will soon take to the country’s battlefields manned by pilots and crews from the Afghan military. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

The Bell V-280 Valor prototype, built in Amarillo and the result of a six-year collaboration with the U.S. Army, is designed to do what the Army's current attack helicopters do now -- only twice as fast and with twice the range. 

Bell Textron's V-280 was one of two aircraft in competition for the Army contract, the other being Sikorsky-Boeing's SB-1 Defiant compound helicopter.

Bell's offering won out in the end.

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The Army said it evaluated several proposals and reviews before choosing Bell.

"I am excited to be part of this momentous day for our Army," said Doug Bush, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology. "The thoughtful and disciplined execution of the FLRAA program strategy will deliver the transformational capabilities we need to support the Joint force, strengthen deterrence and win in multi-domain operations."

"This down-select represents a strategic pivot for Army Aviation to the transformational speed and range our Army needs to dominate future battlefields," said Maj. Gen. Walter Rugen, director of the Future Vertical Lift Cross-Functional Team. "The prototyping and risk-reduction efforts allowed the Army to significantly reduce the time needed to get to today’s announcement."

"I am very proud of the entire team and our aviation enterprise partners," said Maj. Gen. Robert Barrie, Program Executive Officer, Aviation. "They've worked diligently to ensure that the Army delivers a new, vertical lift capability that meets its modernization objectives."

The contract is expected to deliver virtual prototypes that will support design, integration, training and developmental test activities, the Army said.

"Our ability to support this critical Army aviation modernization program is a testament to the outstanding commitment and capabilities of our contracting professionals across the acquisition workforce," said Joseph Giunta Jr., senior contracting official for Army Contracting Command-Redstone Arsenal. "The FLRAA award reinforces our ability to maximize the spectrum of authorities available in our contracting tool kit to meet high-priority Army needs."

The project will eventually replace approximately 2,000 Black Hawk helicopters, Defense News reported. 

Bell Textron told WFAA in 2020 that, if it won the contract, it would expect to have variants of the V-280 in service by the year 2030.

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