WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Government Accountability Office on Thursday dismissed Lockheed Martin Corp’s protest of the Army contract for the Future Long Range-Assault Aircraft awarded to Textron Inc’s Bell helicopter unit worth as much as a $7.1 billion.
The Army awarded the contract in December in the hopes of ending a years-long competition for its next-generation helicopter and partially replace its fleet of more than 2,000 medium-class UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters built by Sikorsky since the 1970s.
The Army has said it plans to fly its remaining Blackhawk fleet through the 2060’s.
(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler)
