NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The U.S. Army will field its first Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, commonly known as FLRAA, to the Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the Army vice chief of staff told an audience at the Army Aviation Association of America’s annual conference Wednesday.
“That decision was based on their mission profile and theater demands,” Gen. James Mingus said in prepared remarks. “This decision makes sense, the 101st is a formation built to deploy rapidly and operate in austere conditions. The 101st flies into real world contested environments, across wide terrain, often without the luxury of fixed support infrastructure. They need speed, endurance, and reliability.”
The operational insights from that first fielding “will shape initial doctrine, sustainment models, and maneuver concepts,” Mingus stated. “And we’re not waiting for a distant out-year to make this thing real. Under the Army Transformation Initiative, we are driving to get this aircraft online years ahead of schedule.”…