V-280 wins US ARMY FLRAA contract

[Copter Appreciator00]

10+ Years of FVL, Bell & Lockheed as partners

Just a Army vet 96-00 and (Bell) helicopter enthusiast and history buff here. Stoked that they won. Now the FLRAA is basically decided, i went back to read some of the news entries over the years on how this whole thing developed, and noticed some interesting patterns and dates and trends.
Here is a piece from July 2010 mentioning the Army realized its need to replace the Kiowa and also eventually UH-60s:
U.S. Army Eyes Joint Multirole Helo | Defense News | defensenews.com (archive.vn)

By September 2013, the Army had offically launched the JMR (later FVL) program with specific needs. Bell-textron had the tilt-rotor idea, with Lockheed as partner, the two set to compete against Sikorsky-Boeing.
Lockheed joins Bell V-280 Valor tier one team - Army Technology (army-technology.com)
Bell, Lockheed team up V-280 Valor for FVL - AR15.COM

By Oct 2015, Lockheed Martin did the acquisition/merger of Sikorsky and Boeing, and switched sides to develop SB>1....*while still developing systems for the V-280*, so LM never really left Bell. This article is INTERESTING:
Bell and Lockheed modify V-280 contract ahead of Sikorsky takeover. (50skyshades.com)

And 2017-2020 saw the various designs from AVX, Karem, Boeing, Bell, and Sikorsky for FLRAA and FARA emerge:
https://breakingdefense.com/2019/05/...at-army-scout/
Bell V-280 Vs. Sikorsky-Boeing SB>1: Who Will Win Future Vertical Lift? - Breaking Defense (2017 article)
https://www.nationaldefensemagazine....gains-momentum

Also, I noticed some of 2016-era images of the SB>1 Defiant troop carrier and attack versions, and it hit me. Boeing has been and is currently fully teamed with Bell for V-22 osprey, but went the X2 route for FVL... yet their attack version of the Defiant (only shown sporadically around 2018) looks *awfully like an AH-1 Cobra* with its sleek lines, unlike the blocky/stocky AH-64. The FVL story is basically 10+ years and still ongoing... from the 1990s-early 2000s Sikorsky RAH-66, to the upper 2000s ARH-70 program, then retiring the OH-58 Kiowa around 2015, then JMR-T or whatever to FVL, with Lockheed first teamed with Bell before switching to the SB>1 while keeping a contract with Bell, to the five companies and their prototypes, then to Bell vs Sikorsky/Boeing, then the test flights, then the last year of waiting for the decision. Dang.


This SB-1 looks like an AH-1Z!