The Government Accountability Office rejected Sikorsky's protest of the Army's decision to choose Bell to build its Future Long Range Assault Aircraft.
The Army and several international partners made headway to achieve battlefield interoperability at EDGE 22 at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, but there is still plenty of work to be done to seamlessly tie allies and partners together in operations.
The report from DoD’s acquisition and sustainment office, which says broadly that consolidation poses a national security risk, marks the strongest U.S. government objection to merger and acquisition activity since the defense secretary in 2015 discouraged deals among the largest prime contractors.
Two teams enter the final phase of competitive development and risk reduction before the Army moves into an official program of record to buy and field a new long-range assault helicopter.
The Army is pushing forward with its Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft program, preparing to pass through the Army Requirements Oversight Council gauntlet in April.
Army aviation leadership said soldiers don't want to give up any of the possible solutions that could replace Shadow after evaluating them over the course of a year. But when the competition starts, which systems might win out?
Edge 21 is the first exercise of its kind, building off of previous demonstrations at China Lake and Project Convergence 2020 to refine the Army aviation ecosystem to effectively operation in the Indo-Pacific theater.