Vertical Flight

Army Secretary Mark Esper said this week that despite an early potential setback to the Army's fiscal year 2020 budget plans, he feels assured Congress and the service are aligned on funding shifts.

House appropriators in a show of support for the Boeing-made Chinook helicopter are directing the Army to follow through on its original plan to upgrade the CH-47, which service leaders had proposed cancelling.

The Army’s Synthetic Training Environment cross-functional team is "very encouraged" by its progress after the first 18 months of operation, this year completing user assessments for its next-generation helicopter and ground vehicle trainers and fielding a new training software to several units.

The Navy anticipates delivery of its first CMV-22 Osprey in late calendar year 2019, according to the manager of the V-22 joint program office.

NASHVILLE, TN -- The executive director of Army Aviation and Missile Command says "the current level of fragility" within the aviation supply chain is "unacceptable" and his No. 1 concern for sustaining the force.

MD Helicopters, denied by the Government Accountability Office, is taking the Army to federal court over the service's rejection of the company's proposal for the Future Attack Reconaissance Aircraft competitive prototype.

NASHVILLE, TN -- Boeing is trying to convince lawmakers to preserve the Chinook Block II upgrade as the Army prepares to make a final decision on the program’s fate in two to three years, according to the service's vice chief of staff.

The Army has released a request for information for the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, a multiservice effort to replace the Black Hawk helicopter as soon as 2030.

Army Secretary Mark Esper is telling the defense industrial base to get on board with the service's modernization goals amid concerns over the service's drastic reallocation of funds from legacy upgrades and other programs to the defined six priorities in its fiscal year 2020 budget.