Bell Pairs Valor and Vigilant
Bell is currently working on the unmanned V-247 Vigilant helicopter, the manned V-280 Valor tilt-rotor, and the best ways to make them work together in teaming configurations.
“The current focus for these programs is on our military customers, both the Future Vertical Lift program for the Army and the MUX program for the Marine Corps,” said Todd Worden, Bell’s senior manager of advanced vertical lift systems, sales, and strategy. “These capabilities will be supported by data channels for both line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight communications in contested environments. The architecture and framework for efficient application of these technologies is currently being developed, and Bell will be participating in this effort to ensure we provide capabilities to support the warfighter.”
In developing MUM-T applications, Bell is simply keeping up with the ever-evolving complexities of aerial warfare, especially because rotorcraft are already flying as fast as physically possible. “Emerging threats and current peer competitors are driving this requirement,” Worden said. “Success in executing future warfighting concepts across multiple domains calls for a revolutionary change in capability, not an evolution of legacy fleet performance.”
On a larger scale, the ability to fly in both manned and autonomous modes is moving from science fiction to a future standard feature. “We are currently developing several platforms that will in the future be employed in both manned and unmanned configurations,” said Worden. “Our V-280 Valor and V-247 Vigilant, both fly-by-wire aircraft, share technologies that enable unmanned capability. While the V-247 Vigilant is an unmanned vehicle from the start, the V-280 Valor has the same technology allowing for manned, optimally manned, and unmanned operations.”
Although Bell is currently focused on military MUM-T applications, “it is easy to envision the technologies that are developed in support of these programs being incorporated into commercial applications,” Worden said.
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Mar/Apr 2019
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