Following the failure of the first path, this second path of insuring FLRAA fails is now Sikorsky’s main strategy . This is best illustrated by the following video of Connecticut senator Chris Murphy questioning the Secretary of the Army.
The mental gymnastics required by the messaging senator Murphy continues to espouse is really quite remarkable. To be making the argument that a new tiltrotor will be unaffordable simply because the first-of-its-kind production tiltrotor predecessor (designed to insanely costly maritime requirements) was expensive and difficult to develop, while the entirely unproven competing platform that has never even had a remotely successful demonstrator predecessor is somehow the less risky and a more rational selection...well that pretty much beguiles logic.
The V-280 was designed from inception to incorporate all the lessons learned in design and manufacturing from XV-3, XV-15, 609, and V-22. It also contained specific design details (eg straight wing) to meet cost targets that the Army specified early in the JMR programme. The maturity of tiltrotors in general is now essentially beyond reasonable question, yet senator Murphy's "parochial" interest in pushing what is pretty blatant propaganda continues.