Undeterred by decades of failure, the U.S. Army is trying again to acquire a new scout helicopter.
The new rotorcraft is supposed to restore the dedicated aerial scout mission the Army gave up when in 2017 it retired its roughly 300 Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior copters.
And here's a surprise. The new Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft also will replace half of the ground-combat branch's 700 Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters.
Aviation Week reporter Stephen Trimble was the first to report the news. Joseph Trevithick at The War Zone piled on.
The FARA will only replace Apaches in our heavy attack reconnaissance squadrons and this represents about half of the Apache fleet," a spokesperson for Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told Trimble.
"There have already been serious questions about whether the AH-64 platform will be able to remain relevant, especially in a high-end conflict environment, through 2048, when the Army plans to retire the very last of the gunships," Trevithick explained.
The Army expects to be integrating significant upgrades into its latest AH-64E Guardian variants through 2026. These include updates to its fire control and targeting systems, improved data sharing and fusion capabilities, better sensors, a more robust ability to work directly with unmanned aircraft and more."
Alongside new artillery and armored vehicles, FARA is one of the Army's highest-priority development programs. A consortium of Boeing and Lockheed is developing the S-97 "pusher" rotorcraft that could meet the FARA requirements. Bell is working on the V-280 tiltrotor that might also meet the Army's needs.
