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AUSA 2021: Defiant flight tests continue as FLRAA source selection starts

13th October 2021 - 16:45 GMT | by David Isby in Washington DC

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SB>1 Defiant in flight. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)

A contender in the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft programme is racking up the hours in flight tests.

The SB>1 Defiant compound helicopter has completed 41 flights, 39 flight hours and 42 ground hours to date in its flight test programme, manufacturers Boeing and Lockheed Martin company Sikorsky announced in a briefing during the AUSA 2021 exhibition in Washington DC on 11-13 October.

In addition, 188 hours have been logged on the propulsion testbed.

Along with Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor, the Defiant is competing in the US Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) programme, part of the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) family of rotorcraft being developed for the US military.

The source selection phase of the

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