{"id":18829,"date":"2020-03-03T15:30:02","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T15:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/03\/03\/boeings-future-attack-recon-helicopter-has-no-name-but-3-rotor-systems\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:47:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:47:52","slug":"boeings-future-attack-recon-helicopter-has-no-name-but-3-rotor-systems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2020\/03\/03\/boeings-future-attack-recon-helicopter-has-no-name-but-3-rotor-systems\/","title":{"rendered":"Boeing\u2019s future attack recon helicopter has no name but 3 rotor systems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 After dropping a brief teaser trailer several weeks ago on social media with split-second glimpses of shadowy outlines of its offering to the U.S. Army\u2019 Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft <\/a>competition, Boeing prompted plenty of speculation on its design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company has kept its FARA design close to its vest since receiving a small design contract <\/a>from the Army. The company even held a 30-minute press briefing at the Association of the U.S. Army\u2019s annual conference in October 2019 where it told reporters they wouldn\u2019t be unveiling anything just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boeing finally went public on March 3 just ahead of the Army choosing two competitors from a pool of five to move forward to build a flying prototype with the intent of picking a winner at the end. The service is expected to make its selection some time this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boeing is the last of those competitors to reveal its hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That helicopter is simply being called \u201cBoeing FARA,\u201d and its clean-sheet design features a hingeless, six-bladed, high-solidity main rotor; a four-bladed conventional tail rotor; and a propeller on the back, Shane Openshaw, Boeing\u2019s FARA program manager, told a small group of reporters ahead of the company\u2019s March 3 unveiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat main rotor is purpose-built for this particular aircraft,\u201d Openshaw said. \u201cThink of it as the means to provide the agility and maneuverability that this aircraft requires.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tail rotor will give the aircraft the maneuverability characteristics at lower speeds of a more typical helicopter, Openshaw said, and the propeller \u201cwill give it the the speed and maneuverability that is needed to support the FARA requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the \u201cnuances that occur with an articulated rotor system\u201d will not be experienced with the Boeing FARA design, he added. For instance, the design eliminates high rotor blade flapping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army is requiring that FARA reach a cruise speed of at least 180 knots at 4,000 feet in 95 degree temperatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\t