ARLINGTON, Texas — The Secretary of the Army visited Arlington Wednesday ready to praise the Trump Administration's actions against Iran while also witnessing the continued north Texas contribution to the military's technological future.
Ryan McCarthy, on a visit to Bell Textron's Flight Research Center, watched a demonstration flight of the company's V-280 Valor - Future Long Range Assault Aircraft.
The prototype, built in Amarillo and the result of a six-year collaboration with the U.S. Army, is designed to do what the Army's current attack helicopters do now, only twice as fast and with twice the range.
Smaller and faster than the V-22 Osprey, the vertical lift aircraft is designed as a fast attack trooper carrier and assault aircraft with a cruising speed of 320 mph and able to travel 2,400 miles.
"It gets our troops in a more safe environment to conduct their operations," Bell V-280 chief engineer Paul Wilson said of the aircraft range and more silent approach than current attack helicopters.
The V-280 is Bell Textron's entry in competition with Sikorsky-Boeing and it's SB-1 Defiant compound helicopter aircraft for a multi-billion dollar contract in the Department of Defense Future Vertical Lift Program.
The aim of the FVL program is to eventually replace the Army's Apache, Blackhawk, Chinook, and Kiowa helicopters, platforms that McCarthy lamented are often as much as 40 years old.
Bell Textron says that if it wins the contract it would expect to have variants of the V-280 in service by the year 2030.
But in Arlington, as the Secretary of the Army watched it fly, his thoughts were also with the battle he is in now.
"It was the right choice. It's a tough choice," McCarthy said of the Trump Administration's decision to kill Iranian General Qasem Soleimani and to whether Iran's ballistic missile response.
"But our posture is locked and cocked and we will do what is necessary to maintain the safety and security in the region in particular," he said of the assets the Army has in place in the Middle East now.
"I know it's on everyone's mind right now about what's happened and can happen," added Congresswoman Kay Granger of Fort Worth who accompanied McCarthy to witness the V-280 demonstration flight.
Bell and Sikorsky both have a substantial presence in her district in the DFW area and could benefit greatly from the eventual FVL contract. But as chair of the defense appropriations subcommittee, she says she isn't, and wouldn't be, choosing sides.
"It doesn't enter into it," Granger said. "It has to be what is best for our troops. That's the decision. Does it do what we need for the future? Is it best for our troops," she said. "To see this is just amazing," she said of the V-280 demonstration. "It saves lives as well as protects the United States. This is a very dangerous world, everyone here knows this and they certainly know it today."
At the end of the flight demonstration, the Secretary of the Army huddled with two top generals inside the V-280 prototype: their conversation, confidential.
But Wednesday in Arlington, he made clear that the military remains confident and ready for Iran's next move while the U.S. military also keeps another eye on the future and the best tools they will need for the threats still to come.