An upcoming Hot Topic forum hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army will focus on Army aviation.

The theme for the daylong in-person event is “40th Anniversary of the Aviation Branch: Honoring the Past and Transforming for the Future.”

Featuring Douglas Bush, assistant Army secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology, as the keynote speaker, the event will take place Feb. 23 at AUSA’s headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.

Registration is open, and it is free for military members, government employees and media.

For more information or to register, click here.

In addition to the keynote by Bush, the Hot Topic will feature an update on the aviation branch by Maj. Gen. Michael McCurry, commanding general of the Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker, Alabama.

Maj. Gen. William Taylor, director of Army aviation in the office of the deputy Army chief of staff for operations, G-3/5/7, is slated to speak, as is Maj. Gen. Thomas O’Connor, commander of the Army Aviation and Missile Command.

These leaders are expected to discuss future aviation requirements, operations, logistics and acquisition to best equip and sustain the aviation force of the future.

There also will be two panel discussions. The first will focus on training the maneuver force of 2040, while the second will discuss supply chain risk management in a contested environment.

Army aviation, as the rest of the Army, is undergoing a sweeping transformation in preparation for the battlefield of 2030 and beyond. The Army is looking for aircraft that can fly faster and farther while harnessing unmanned aerial capabilities.

Future Vertical Lift is one of the Army’s top modernization priorities, and its two signature initiatives—the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, which is meant to replace the UH-60 Black Hawk, and the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft, which will replace the OH-58 Kiowa and some of the Army’s AH-64 Apaches—could change the way aviators fight. 

“Everything we’re doing in Future Vertical Lift is to support our warfighters—keep them safer, so they can do their job fighting and winning our nation’s wars,” Maj. Gen. Walter Rugen, director of the Future Vertical Lift Cross-Functional Team, previously said.