With a new program on the horizon after decades of making and remaking old designs, the industry risks being unable to deliver an advanced rotorcraft if further U.S. Army budget cuts slow modernization and delay the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program, says a senior aviation branch officer. "If we have to delay FVL low-rate initial production beyond 2030,I am concerned for the industry, which has to provide us some advanced capabilities," says Maj. Gen. Mike Lundy, commander of the Army Aviation Center of Excellence. U.S. industry has not developed a new army rotorcraft since the 1970s. Bell Helicopter and a Sikorsky/ Boeing team are to fly high-speed ro-borcraft technology demonstrators in 2017 under the Joint Multi-Role (JMR) program, but Lundy is concerned that any delay in starting the follow-on FVL acquisition program could lead to the breakup of engineering teams and the loss of design capability.
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