Washington Insider

Pat Host discusses Washington D.C. updates.

The U.S. Army is studying possible inclusion of other nations in its Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program.

The U.S. Defense Department is ramping up efforts to develop and field equipment to fight hostile unmanned aerial systems and is reviewing several operational and policy issues to ensure it gets the most from its counterdrone activities.

The U.S. Army in June awarded Sikorsky a five-year, firm-fixed-price contract to produce 257 H-60 Black Hawks for the U.S. Army and foreign military sales program customers, the Defense Dept. said.

As the industry readies its experimental vertical-lift aircraft for U.S. Army evaluation, aviation officials have made clear they do not consider the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrators (JMR-TD) to be prototypes of future helicopters.

Associate Editor and Defense Analyst Pat Host examines helicopter programs in the U.S. government.

Associate Editor and Defense Analyst Pat Host provides analysis into current U.S. government programs.

Look for the run-up to November’s U.S. presidential election to slow new rulemaking actions and policy initiatives (except emergency ones) by the FAA and other federal agencies.

The FAA is looking to hire a new manager in its Rotorcraft Directorate to assess and identify emerging technologies and developing strategic plans for addressing the rulemaking, policy and research issues their emergence raises.

Navy officials last month were set to brief a top acquisition executive on options for replenishing the service’s rotorcraft training capability, including a “new” model for buying training services.