V-280...a return to the UH-1 utility/gunship...is what the USMC sees in a medium tiltrotor...

via Breaking Defense.

“I like where the Army’s going [with] the H-60 replacement,” the Marines’ top aviator said here. “We’re going to be partnered, we’re going to stay right on their wing as they begin to accelerate” the medium-sized variant of Future Vertical Lift.

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“It’s going to replace our H-1s” — the much-upgraded UH-1Y and UH-1Z variants of the Vietnam-era Huey — “in about the 2035 timeframe,” he said. “It would probably be a utility-attack variant that would escort the V-22. Currently today our Cobras — our premiere light attack platform — cannot keep up with the V-22 for escorting it into LZs [landing zones]. We accomplish that with our F-35s,” which are a scarce resource.


Beyond the escort mission, Rudder said, he sees FLRAA operating as a light attack aircraft that combines the speed and range of a fixed-wing turboprop with the versatility of a helicopter, able to operate without a runway from bare-bones Forward Arming & Refueling Points (FARPs) .

Story here. 

The story is about why the USMC wants the CH-53K.  Luckily it goes beyond that and Rudder talked about what role he sees the FVL playing going forward.

I was confused on why they would want that platform but now it makes sense.  The only question it really leaves is why the MUX is being pursued.

Regardless.  This allows me to sit back a bit.  But only a bit.  Sikorsky, Lockheed Martin and the USMC are going to have to get the cost of the CH-53K in line with reality.

A reader talked about Marine culture and how its "semper gumby".  He was right.  Which leads to this reality.

If the CH-53K doesn't work right and/or isn't affordable then we CAN make do with CH-47Gs.