It is not anticipated that the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft program of the US Army, which is now in the prototyping stage, will be greatly impacted by the ongoing investigation of alternatives.
The US Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program is not expected to be significantly affected by the ongoing analysis of alternatives (AOA), according to the service’s acquisition chief, Doug Bush. The AOA was launched after the Army spent $2bn on the program, which is now in the prototyping phase. The FARA competitive prototyping program has been delayed as the two competitors – Textron’s Bell and Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky – wait for the Army’s next-generation Improved Turbine Engine Program engine to be installed in already built prototypes. The Army is also developing the weapons systems and a modular open-system architecture for the aircraft.
