US Army Officially Designates FLRAA as the MV-75 and Gives it New Special Forces Capabilities
On May 14, the US Army announced that the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft would be officially designated the MV-75. Previously the vehicle was known by its Bell Textron name, the V-280 Valor, however, this was for internal use prior to the companies victory in the Joint-Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator program (JMR-TD).
Whether the US Army will continue its tradition of naming helicopters after Native American tribes wasn’t mentioned. What is clear by the use of an M
designation (Multi-Mission) rather than U (Utility) is the aircraft will be built from the ground-up with special forces and attack use in mind. Standard Army Blackhawks are designated UH-60 while the special forces variants carry an MH-60 designation.
There is a significant difference in capability behind the name. In service UH-60Ms have access to 4,000 shp through their two T700 turboshafts while the MH-60s are upgraded to 5,000 shp thanks to uprated YT706 engines. This extra power is required because of the MH-60Ms much heavier operating weight brought on by special systems like a refueling probe, terrain following radar, and other sensors and communication systems. MH-60Ms are also able to be configured into an attack helicopter as the Direct Action Penetrator (DAP) variant which can carry 30mm cannons and various missile systems.
The unique power system and other design differences of the MH-60Ms make the bespoke fleet more expensive to maintain than the rest of the Blackhawk inventory which SOCOM desires to avoid in the future. To combat this USSOCOM requested that their special requirements, including greater onboard power generation, be built into the baseline MV-75 from the beginning and this was accepted by the Army’s Program Executive Office for Aviation.
Despite the increase in airframe weight the regular Army saw these special forces upgrades as useful, giving them room for future upgrade paths. Thusly USSOCOM and standard MV-75s will share a common core unlike the Blackhawk fleet.
Despite accommodating USSOCOM’s requests the first MV-75s will be fielded by regular Army forces, specifically the 101st Airborne Division as announced by Army vice chief of staff General James Mingus. These first aircraft are expected to be delivered in 2028 after the Army opted for a compressed development and production timeline. USSOCOM doesn’t expect to receive any MV-75s until 2036 as reported by Breaking Defense.