The U.S. Army issued the following news release:
The Pentagon and the U.S. Army are in the early stages of a far-reaching Science & Technology effort designed to engineer, build and deliver a next-generation helicopter with vastly improved avionics, electronics, range, speed, propulsion, survivability, operating density altitudes and payload capacity, service officials said.
The Army-led Joint Multi-Role, or JMR program is a broadly-scoped Pentagon effort, including input, officials and working group members from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, other military services, Coast Guard, Special Operations Command and NASA, among others.
Building a helicopter able to sustain speeds in excess of 170 knots, achieve an overall combat range greater than 800 kilometers (combat radius of 424 kilometers) and hover with a full combat load under high/hot conditions (altitudes of 6,000 feet and 95 degrees F) are among the many capabilities sought after for the JMR. Plans for the next-generation aircraft also include having a degree of autonomous flight capability or being "optionally manned," successful weapons integration and compatibility, a core common architecture in terms of next-generation electronics, sensors and on-board avionics, manned-unmanned teaming ability and shipboard compatibility.
The JMR program, which seeks to begin designing several "demonstrator" aircraft by 2013 and conduct a first flight in 2017 as a series of first steps toward developing a next-generation fleet of helicopters, is a subset of the Pentagon's Joint Future Vertical Lift effort squarely aimed at exploring emerging technologies and best identifying the realm of the possible with respect to future aircraft and helicopter capabilities. The DOD plans to begin fielding a new fleet of next-generation helicopters by 2030.
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