Future Vertical Lift: how the next American military helicopters will look like

In recent years, the United States Department of Defense carried out a deep doctrinal reflection on the future role and the emerging operational needs of its helicopter fleet. This reflection arises from the analysis of several factors, now geostrategic in nature, now purely technological. As far as the latter side is concerned, the Defense is inevitably experiencing the progressive obsolescence of the current fleet of helicopters, extensively employed in all the operating theaters (numerous and heterogeneous) that see its Armed Forces as protagonists. Some aircraft, including legendary models such as the CH-47 Chinook or the UH-60 Black Hawk, despite multiple updates, maintain a conceptual design dating back to the Sixties. In addition to this, at the state of the art, the American Defense cannot fail to recognize the urgency of this update, since the recent developments of the Russian and Chinese helicopter industry are likely to gradually erode the technological superiority of the United States in this specific sector. The risk becomes increasingly significant in light of the progressive repositioning of US strategic interests, in the face not only of the 2014 Crimean events, but also of the growing tensions in the South China Sea. More generally, the recent evolution of the international geostrategic framework will require in the coming years to meet heterogeneous and hitherto unusual operational requirements.

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