- May 11, 2021, 1:15 PM A leader of the U.S. Army Futures Command and senior rotorcraft company executives all emphasized the need not only to change how current and future rotorcraft and other vertical lift aircraft perform, but how they are made. During remarks May 10 at the keynote session of the Vertical Flight Society’s (VFS) Forum 77, they also pointed to the need to continue to recruit and retain top engineering talent as the rotorcraft industry transitions to future vertical lift programs, more efficient internal combustion and electric propulsion, and increased use of autonomous systems. U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Thomas H. Todd III, the Army Future Command’s deputy commanding general for acquisitions and systems, stressed the need to develop “affordable” aircraft that could be “fielded at scale.” This not only applies to new future vertical lift (FVL) aircraft under development, but also the ability to digitize and modernize legacy military helicopter platforms such as the Apache, Chinook, and Black Hawk that will be operated in some cases through 2060 as FVL aircraft are integrated into the fleet over time. Cockpits of many of these aircraft already have been modernized and the Army is continuing with plans to retrofit legacy aircraft with a new generation of engines—such as the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP)—that increase shaft horsepower by 50 percent and reduces fuel burns by up to 25 percent.