New Contender For The Army's High-Speed Armed Scout Helicopter Program Emerges - conception of AVX and L3's FARA submission 2.jpg ...

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The competition to finally develop a true replacement for the OH-58D Kiowa
Warrior is heating up.

AVX Aircraft and L3 Technologies have revealed an advanced compound helicopter
design with a coaxial main rotor as their entry for the U.S. Army’s Future
Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft program, or FARA. The service wants a high-speed,
long-range "knife fighter" that will be a spiritual successor to the OH-58D
Kiowa Warrior armed scout helicopter and the winning rotorcraft could replace up
to half of the service's existing AH-64 Apache gunships.

The two companies unveiled their joint entry to coincide with the Army Aviation
Association of America’s 2019 Army Aviation Mission Solutions Summit on Apr. 15,
2019. They had previously announced that they had submitted a design together in
December 2018. The Army says it will consider between four and six total designs
for Phase 1 of the FARA program, before down-selecting two just two competitors
in 2020.

“We are extremely pleased to reveal the design for this very important U.S. Army
program,” Troy Gaffey, AVX CEO and Chief Engineer, said in a press release. “AVX
and L3 provide unique engineering design skills and manufacturing expertise that
will provide the Army with an advanced, lethal and affordable reconnaissance and
light-attack platform.”

The design the two firms have put forward has obvious similarities to AVX’s
previous design work, featuring two ducted fans, one on each side of the upper
fuselage, to provide forward thrust, along with a coaxial main rotor. The
chopper has small wings near the top of the fuselage, as well as rear
stabilizers, too.

The official press release did not include any performance specifics, but the
Army has made clear it is looking for the FARA to have better speed and range
compared to the AH-64 Apache gunship. The latest AH-64E variant has a top speed
of around 170 miles per hour in level flight and a maximum, unrefueled range of
around 300 miles. Compound helicopters in general typically offer much greater
top speeds over traditional helicopters and the addition of wings can help
reduce the load on the rotors, offering added efficiency.

The helicopter also has two separate sub wings on either side of the lower
fuselage for stores and the concept art shows it firing a Hellfire-type missile.
The Army is looking to steadily replace those weapons with the improved Joint
Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM).

The concept art shows a sensor turret on top of the nose that would include
electro-optical and infrared cameras, as well as a laser designator. There is a
turret with a multi-barrel Gatling type automatic cannon underneath the nose, as
well.

This weapon could be General Dynamics’ new XM915 20mm cannon, which is an
evolution of the lightweight three-barrel XM301 it developed in the 1990s for
the abortive RAH-66A Comanche stealthy armed scout helicopter. The XM301 was
itself a derivative of the iconic six-barrel M61 Vulcan cannon and the earlier
three-barrel M197 variant.


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