Sikorsky won’t take any further steps to protest the legality of the U.S. Army’s decision to award the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program contract to Bell, the company has announced.
The much-anticipated contract award was announced in December 2022, with the Army selecting Bell’s V-280 Valor for the program over the Sikorsky-Boeing team’s Defiant X.
Sikorsky lodged a protest within days of the contract award, but the Government Accountability Office denied the protest following its review of the decision, announced April 6.
The GAO report, released April 13, revealed the Army considered Sikorsky’s submission “technically unacceptable” for failing to provide the level of architectural detail required by the program’s request for proposal.
“We are disappointed with the Government Accountability Office decision and remain convinced that our Defiant X offering represented both the best value for the taxpayer and the transformational technology that our warfighters need to execute their complex missions,” Sikorsky said in a statement following the publication of the GAO report.
The company said it valued its “long-standing partnership” with the U.S. Army, and said its “top priority” was serving the Army’s missions.
“We are focused on driving innovation and delivering the transformational Raider X for the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft, modernized Black Hawks, and future technology critical to mission readiness for the United States and Allied nations,” the statement concluded.
