Sikorsky, Boeing team in contract bid

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WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Sikorsky Aircraft has signed a teaming deal with Boeing to win a U.S. Army contract to design and build a future vertical-lift aircraft demonstrator.

The companies' joint proposal for Phase 1 of the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator program will be submitted to the U.S. Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate.

"We are excited about this opportunity and for our customer," said Mick Maurer, president of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.

"The Sikorsky and Boeing team brings together exceptional technical expertise (and) our customer can be assured this collaboration will bring together innovative, industry-leading engineering expertise with a deep bench of program leadership talent, and builds upon the combined resources of both companies to deliver a revolutionary capability for the warfighter at an affordable cost for the U.S. taxpayer."

If their joint proposal is accepted, the Sikorsky and Boeing team would build and fly one or more demonstrator aircraft in 2017.

"Our teaming agreement is the continuation of a long-standing relationship between Boeing and Sikorsky and reflects a common vision for the future of Army aviation," said Chris Chadwick, president of Boeing Military Aircraft. "Our combined technical strengths and our collective program management expertise make this partnership an exciting development in meeting the Army's JMR program objectives."