PRESS RELEASE

U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, & Engineering Center Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898

Advisory number: 10022013/1 Mervin Brokke Phone: 256.313.5742 Cell: 256.990.7201 mervin.brokke@us.army.mil www.redstone.army.mil/amrdec

For Immediate Release

AMRDEC announces Technology Investment Agreements for its Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala., October 2, 2013The Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center announces the award of four Technology Investment Agreements under Broad Agency Announcement W911W6-12-R-0021 Joint Multi-Role (JMR) Technology Demonstrator (TD) Phase 1 to AVX Aircraft Company, Bell Helicopter Textron Inc., Karem Aircraft Inc., and Sikorsky Aircraft Company. Established in 2009 by the Secretary of Defense as a Joint effort to focus all DoD vertical lift capabilities and technology development by conducting a Capability Based Assessment and developing an S&T plan, Future Vertical Lift (FVL) is an initiative; not yet a solution. In October 2011, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued the FVL Strategic Plan [The Future Vertical Lift Initiative: A Strategic Plan for United States Department of Defense Vertical Lift Aircraft] to outline a joint approach for the next generation vertical lift aircraft for all Military Services. The Strategic Plan provides a foundation for replacing the current fleet with advanced capability by shaping the development of vertical lift aircraft for the next 25 to 40 years. The Strategic Plan indicates that 80% of decision points for the DoD vertical lift fleet to either extend the life, retire, or replace with a new solution occur in the next 8-10 years. The JMR TD program is a Science and Technology demonstration intended to mitigate risk for the FVL development program through the testing of advanced technologies and efficient configurations.

We must continue to push implementation of the FVL Strategic Plan which will positively impact Vertical Lift Aviation operations for the next 50+ years. Absolutely, that is what JMR is all about. As we understand the demonstrated technologies and the opportunities for future technologies, that will feed the desired and reasonable capabilities and requirements for the potential FVL solutions, said Dr. William Lewis, Director of the AMRDECs Aviation Development Directorate. The purpose of the JMR TD is to demonstrate an operationally representative mix of capabilities to investigate realistic design trades and enabling technologies. Emerging results from JMR TD Phase 1 will be used to inform the FVL effort regarding promising vehicle configurations, the maturity of enabling technologies, attainable performance and capabilities , and highlight the affordable technical solutions required to achieve those capabilities. The JMR TD program is not building prototypes of the FVL solution nor a pre-selection program for FVL. For the next nine months, four industry teams from Bell Helicopter, Karem Aircraft, Inc., a Sikorsky-Boeing team, and AVX Aircraft Company will be refining their initial designs and making preparations toward potentially building and flight-testing a demonstrator aircraft late in FY17. With this signing, the Army has taken a large step toward developing a new family of aircraft referred to as Future Vertical Lift Family of Systems. "This is a critical risk reducing effort for FVL," said Maj. Gen. William "Tim" Crosby, Program Executive Officer for Aviation. "The operational benefits and changes will depend on the capabilities we can deliver to the war fighter with FVL. Improved speed, range, reliability, and survivability are critical goals that we will target. I am very proud of the accomplishments of our AMRDEC partners and the PEO Aviation team." The JMR TD program has multi-Service participation as the knowledge gained will inform any FVL solution. The JMR TD program is not the only S&T effort feeding those future decision points and potential FVL solutions. The Army, in concert with other agencies such as NASA, continues to broadly invest in vertical lift technology and mission systems. We are looking to bring transformational vertical lift capabilities across the spectrum of operations, said Lewis. For more information please contact Merv Brokke, AMRDEC Public Affairs, at mervin.e.brokke.civ@mail.mil or 256.313.5742. - end -