01 July 2021

Bell, Sikorsky-Boeing preparing for competition portion of FLRAA

by Pat Host

Bell and Sikorsky-Boeing are preparing for the competitive demonstration and risk reduction (CD&RR) phase of the US Army's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) programme, where the competitors will refine their offerings as the US Army specifies its requirements.

Bell is retiring the V-280 Valor tiltrotor that it developed under the US Army's JMR-TD programme. The company is turning its focus to the CD&RR phase of FLRAA. (Bell)

Bell has retired the V-280 Valor tiltrotor that it developed under the US Army's Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) programme. The V-280, in three years of flight test, accumulated more than 214 hours of flight, according to a 24 June company statement. The aircraft completed all planned key performance parameters (KPPs) including low-speed agility, long-range cruise, 305 knot high-speed flight, and rapid mission systems integration during this test period.

Five US Army experimental test pilots have flown the V-280 in over 15 sorties. Ryan Ehinger, Bell vice president and programme director for FLRAA/V-280, told Janes on 28 June that the aircraft also had 386 rotor turn hours, 173 flights, and over 2,200 test conditions.

Bell, with the V-280, is competing against the Sikorsky-Boeing Defiant X rigid co-axial rotorcraft in FLRAA. Sikorsky-Boeing developed the SB>1 Defiant under JMR-TD.

Bell is upbeat about the V-280's gearbox and rotor system reliability, as Ehinger said these are historically two of the largest cost drivers for rotorcraft. According to him, the company has not had any issues with the gearbox and rotor systems, as these have been tested to full power and put through the gamut of engineering manoeuvres and tests at both low and high speeds.

Bell and Sikorsky-Boeing are preparing for the competitive demonstration and risk reduction (CD&RR) ...

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