An Israeli, Abraham Karem, has offered a futuristic aircraft to the United States Army. He is an aviation expert who is responsible for creating some of Israel’s first unmanned aircraft. Karem Aircraft also came up with the very first version of the U.S. Predator. Karem would like to produce a one of a kind Tiltroter. He’s doing this to meet the Army’s future utility roto requirements.
Joint Mulit Role (JMR) is a piece of the Army’s planned future for aircraft. The Army plans to replace old models such as the Black Hawk Utility Helicopter (Sikorsky UH-60), and the Apache Attack Helicopter (Boeing AH-64), by the mid 2030’s. The U.S. Army’s Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Command has invested in technology agreements with the following:
1) Karem Aircraft
2) Sikorsky/Boeing Team
3) AVX Aircraft
4) Bell Helicopter
J.M.R. requires the new aircraft have a cruise speed of at least 230 knots, which 50% faster than your conventional aircraft. The Karem Aircraft model is being designed to have a level flight speed of 360 knots, the Bell model is aiming theirs at 280, the AVX and Sikorsky/Boeing models will meet the standard 230 knots.
The Army has given all four teams a nine month period to come up with their preliminary designs. Then, the Army will inspect and consider which two models they’d like to see as competing demonstrators. These planes are scheduled to fly in 2017.