 |
| AVX Aviation |
US lawmakers concerned about US Army Future Vertical Lift RDT&E spending | Jane's 360
Pat Host, Washington, DC - Jane's Defence Weekly
03 January 2020
Key Points
- Strong language from US lawmakers expressing concern that the US Army was not prioritising certain Future Vertical Lift (FVL) technologies did not make the final Natoinal Defense Authorization Act
- FVL is one of the US Army's top acquisition priorities
US lawmakers are concerned that the US Army is not prioritising key research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) technologies as part of its Future Vertical Lift (FVL) effort.
The final version of the fiscal year 2020 (FY 2020) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law on 20 December, had a one-paragraph "sense of Congress" provision on FVL technologies. It said that the US Army should continue to invest in RDT&E programmes for FVL, including programmes to improve pilot situational awareness, increase flight operations safety, and reduce operations and maintenance (O&M) costs.
But the version of the FY 2020 defence authorisation bill that passed only the House had significantly stronger language. This version of the bill said that Congress is concerned that the US Army is not adequately resourcing programmes to improve pilot situational awareness, increase flight operations safety, and diminish O&M costs. It also had the "sense of Congress" provision that the US Army should continue to invest in RDT&E programmes to mature FVL technologies.
The House-passed bill said, specifically, that investments in maturation technologies to accelerate the deployment of FVL programmes are paramount and that technology designs and prototypes must be converted into production-ready articles for effective fielding. This language did not make the final NDAA that was signed into law.
No comments:
Post a Comment