I agree, Boeing Philly is not dead, yet. But their clean sheet, new platform design capabilities are gone. The Comanche was designed over 25 years ago.
Boeing’s primary contribution on FLRAA was political, not technical or financial. Boeing’s lobbyists and
PR departments probably billed more hours than their engineering.
Boeing has now lost all hope for any FLRAA content (talk about betting on the wrong horse). Meanwhile, FARA has been delayed, likely grown is size, and probably changed to twin engine. This makes FARA more of a direct competitor to the Boeing Apache, than a Kiowa replacement.
So when the final FARA RFP is released, this contract may become a three way competition between Sikorsky, Bell, and Boeing. With Boeing proposing an upgraded Apache.
Regarding Boeing acquiring Bell, or Textron. Scary thought.
Originally Posted by
noneofyourbusiness
That may be too harsh an assessment of Boeing engineering capabilities. Comanche and Defiant never reached production, but Boeing, partnered with Sikorsky, had substantial design responsibility. Defiant could potentially be sold as an Apache replacement. Heck, even companies such as AVX can design a modern helicopter.
One can say Lockheed has never created a modern helicopter, but Sikorsky is still there. Boeing acquired Mesa, but the organization was still there. If Boeing acquires Textron, Bell would still exist.
For the record, both FARA competitors say they are ready to go. The delay is with the engine being delivered. As far as growing in size or adding an engine, haven't seen any indication of that. That would be a reboot of the whole program. OTOH, multiple sources say that FARA as specified can't be built, so there are going to have to be some changes somewhere.
Defiant-X as an Apache replacement would be a non-starter. If you're going to go that route, an attack version of Valor would be a lot cheaper and arguably better. A number of companies can
design a modern helicopter, the question is can you build and fly a successful one? Boeing and AVX, among others, never have.
One difference is that United Aircraft
wanted to divest Sikorsky. It went to Lockheed because the gov't made antitrust noises regarding a Bell-Sikorsky company and at first the only companies interested in acquiring Sikorsky were European and the concept of a foreign country acquiring a major US defense airframe manufacturer did not bode well. Lockheed's riding in as a White Knight brought relief to a lot of places. As far as I can tell, Textron is quite happy with Bell and are not themselves looking to be bought by anyone.