Vertical Flight

As new aircraft come online like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, CH-53K King Stallion and a slew of unmanned aerial systems, the Marine Corps is revising its maintenance qualification standards to make the transition easier for mechanics and other personnel.

NASHVILLE, TN -- The Defense Department's funding boost in fiscal year 2018 has provided "tremendous help" to Army aviation, enabling the service to accelerate its modernization plans, according to an official.

The Pentagon says the recent spate of aviation crashes being investigated by the military service branches is "not a crisis" that requires a department-wide review, despite rumblings from Capitol Hill that a more holistic investigation is necessary.

NASHVILLE, TN -- The two companies vying to replace the engine in the Army's AH-64 and H-60 aircraft are awaiting direction from the service to proceed to the next phase of the competition.

NASHVILLE, TN -- The Army’s existing aircraft are "the best in the world," but technological advances and a more complex future operational environment necessitate drastic changes, according to the service’s vice chief of staff.

HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Funding instability has led to a slight schedule slip in requirements development for the first Future Vertical Lift aircraft, but the Army aims to regain ground where possible, according to the TRADOC capability manager for FVL.

HUNTSVILLE, AL -- The Future Vertical Lift cross-functional team aims "to accelerate selected disruptive technologies" to enable Army aviation operations in a contested environment, over greater distances and through advanced teaming with unmanned aerial systems to "keep us viable in the air domain," according to its director.

The Army's Future Vertical Lift cross-functional team is focused not only on replacements for the service's rotary aviation fleet, but on developing new unmanned aerial systems for "advanced teaming."

Despite schedule slips in the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator effort, the Army-led Future Vertical Lift program remains on track, according to the director of the cross-functional team charged with expediting it.