Bell Textron Inc. has confirmed that the U.S. Army has picked a V-280 tiltrotor to replace some of its iconic Black Hawk helicopters.
As noted by the company, it has been awarded the development contract for the U.S. Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program.
The award is based on Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor which was developed and tested as part of the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR TD) program that began in 2013. The V-280 progressed through design, manufacturing, and more than three years of rigorous flight testing that provided extensive data validating the technical and operational advantages of the aircraft for the long-range assault mission.
As of my knowledge cutoff in September 2021, the U.S. Army had not officially selected the V-280 Valor tiltrotor aircraft as a direct replacement for the iconic UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. The V-280 Valor is a tiltrotor aircraft being developed by Bell Textron and is currently in the prototype stage. It is part of the U.S. Army’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program, which aims to develop next-generation rotorcraft to replace the aging fleet of helicopters.
While the V-280 Valor has shown promising performance and capabilities during testing, including its ability to take off and land vertically like a helicopter and fly at high speeds like a fixed-wing aircraft, the U.S. Army’s selection process for a Black Hawk replacement was still ongoing at the time of my knowledge cutoff.
“We are honored that the U.S. Army has selected the Bell V-280 Valor as its next-generation assault aircraft,” said Scott C. Donnelly, Textron’s chairman and chief executive officer. “We intend to honor that trust by building a truly remarkable and transformational ωɛλρσɳ system to meet the Army’s mission requirements. We are excited to play an important role in the future of Army Aviation.”
“This is an exciting time for the U.S. Army, Bell, and Team Valor as we modernize the Army’s aviation capabilities for decades to come,” said Mitch Snyder, president and CEO of Bell. “Bell has a long history supporting Army Aviation and we are ready to equip Soldiers with the speed and range they need to compete and win using the most mature, reliable, and affordable high-performance long-range assault ωɛλρσɳ system in the world.”
This award builds on a decade of the V-280 Valor’s progress through design, manufacturing, and thorough testing to demonstrate that this aircraft will deliver on the FLRAA program requirements. Bell and its industry partners have systematically validated the V-280 aircraft and their modular open systems approach in collaboration with the Army.
“For the past several years the Bell team demonstrated the exceptional operational capabilities, digital thread synergies, and platform affordability enhancements the V-280 provides,” said Keith Flail, executive vice president, Advanced Vertical Lift Systems at Bell. “Bell stands ready with our world-class manufacturing facilities to apply our nearly seven decades of tiltrotor expertise to deliver a modern FLRAA fleet to the Army.”
The initial contract refines the ωɛλρσɳ system design, sustainment, digital enterprise, manufacturing, systems integration, flight-testing, and airworthiness qualification.
