Mechanical fixes kept the SB>1 compound helicopter grounded for weeks this summer, but Sikorsky insists they can catch up.

Whatever their aircraft is like, Boeing’s PR strategy is definitely stealthy. There’s a strategic reason for that.

Sikorsky says their Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft design will fly faster, with bigger weapons, than archrival Bell’s. Bell says theirs will be cheaper and more reliable.

With its trademark tiltrotors too big for the Army’s FARA requirement, Bell is squeezing every ounce of performance out of a helicopter. Will it be fast enough?

Flying sideways, backwards, in pirouettes, and in a markedly quiet stealth mode, the hybrid helicopter-turboprop demonstrated the maneuverability the Army considers essential to survive high-tech future battles with Russia or China.

The company is confident that there is no inherent flaw in the design. Instead, they say, there was a software error that would have hamstrung any aircraft — and that error won’t happen again.

Leaked extracts from an Army review tell only part of the story, a 12-year saga of extensive research, development, and testing, the company argues.

Dark horse design house AVX has never built a complete aircraft. The Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft competition just might change that.

Awards for Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft designs went to Bell, Boeing, Karem, Sikorsky, and a partnership of AVX and L-3.

Instead of trying to scale down its tiltrotor technology, Bell will offer a derivative of its Bell 525. Will it have the speed and range the Army wants?