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.