U.S. Department of defense : Sikorsky and Boeing Challenge Army Decision to Replace Black Hawk with Bell V-280 Tiltrotor The Government Accountability Office has 100 days to review the deal.

 

Sikorsky and Boeing Challenge Army Decision to Replace Black Hawk with Bell V-280 Tiltrotor

The Government Accountability Office has 100 days to review the deal.

BY MARCUS WEISGERBER

GLOBAL BUSINESS EDITOR

DECEMBER 28, 2022 05:15 PM ET

• ARMY
• INDUSTRY

Sikorsky and Boeing are challenging the Army’s decision to replace the service’s Black Hawk helicopters with tiltrotor aircraft manufactured by Textron’s Bell.

The announcement comes four weeks after the Army chose the Bell-made V-280 Valor over the Defiant X, a new-design helicopter jointly made by Sikorsky and Boeing, for what the service calls the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, or FLRAA. 

“The data and discussions lead us to believe the proposals were not consistently evaluated to deliver the best value in the interest of the Army, our soldiers, and American taxpayers,” Sikorsky and Boeing said in a joint statement. “The critical importance of the FLRAA mission to the Army and our nation requires the most capable, affordable, and lowest-risk solution. We remain confident DEFIANT X is the transformational aircraft the Army requires to accomplish its complex missions today and well into the future.”

The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office will review the protest and must make a ruling within 100 days. Its recommendations could range from urging the Army to reevaluate bids to saying the protest is without merit. If the protest is thrown out, Sikorsky—which is part of Lockheed Martin—and Boeing could challenge the Army in court.

Army and Bell spokespeople were not immediately available for comment. When the Army announced on Dec. 5 that it had chosen the V-280, officials predicted the decision would be contested.