The U.S. Army Future Command's FVL CFT Director announced to speak at Helicopter Technology CEE 2022

BUDAPEST, Hungary - April 22, 2022 - PRLog -- SMi Group's Helicopter Technology Central and Eastern Europe 2022 conference is returning for its seventh successful year on the 18th and 19th May 2022 as a live and in person event in Budapest, Hungary.

Interested parties can register at www.futurehelicopter.co.uk/PR2

SMi Group are delighted to announce that Major General Walter T. Rugen, Director of the Future Vertical Lift Cross Functional Team, U.S. Army, will be speaking at this year's Helicopter Technology Central and Eastern Europe Conference.

Below is a short biography and insight into who Major General Walter T. Rugen is:

In 2005, MG Rugen was assigned as a strategic plans officer in the J5 at the United States Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.

In 2007, MG Rugen commanded 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operation Aviation Regiment. From 2009-2011, MG Rugen was assigned to the Army Staff in the aviation directorate at the Pentagon.

From 2012-2014, he commanded the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade in the Republic of Korea. He then transitioned back to the Pentagon where he became the Chief Army Aviation Force Development Division in the Army G8 from 2014- 2016.

From 2016-2017, he served as the Director of Materiel in HQDA G8 before serving as the 7th Infantry Division Deputy Commanding General - Support at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington from 2017-2018.

Currently, MG Rugen is the Director of U.S. Army Futures Command's Future Vertical Lift Cross Functional Team, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.

Ahead of the conference, SMi Group caught up with Major General Walter T. Rugen to find out more about his role, priorities, current projects, opportunities, and his involvement as a speaker at the upcoming event.

What are the primary obstacles for your organisation in conducting effective helicopter operations, and how are you looking to overcome these?

"With our legacy systems (developed 40+ year ago) reaching the constraints of their growth margins in size, weight, power, cooling, speed and range we must look for clean sheet designs to provide us the ability to incorporate the capabilities we need to win in a future fight."

Are there any technology or platform updates that have interested you in the past few years?

"The Army Aviation Modernized priorities include the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA), the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA), the Future Unmanned Aircraft Systems (FUAS), and the Modular Open Systems Approach."

The full interview as well as the event brochure can be downloaded at www.futurehelicopter.co.uk/PR2