Dutch air force chief says Future Vertical Lift not ambitious enough

Lt. Gen. Alexander Schnitger, head of the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF), has criticized the U.S. Army’s Future Vertical Lift program for not being ambitious enough.



“Sure, requirements call for a helicopter that is twice as fast and can fly twice as far as the current generation, but both solutions are based on ’80s technology, refreshed a little bit,” Schnitger said at the DSEI global security conference

Schnitger said what he wanted to see was “a disruptive vision of the vertical-lift capabilities that is ready for any operation in 2040.”

Bell has offered its V-280 Valor tiltrotor and the Sikorsky/Boeing team has come up with the SB-1 Defiant, a coaxial rotor and pusher prop design.

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