Lockheed Martin has joined Bell V-280 Valor™ tilt rotor helicopter program with Bell Helicopters, as a tier one team member. “We made the...
Lockheed Martin has joined Bell V-280 Valor™ tilt rotor helicopter program with Bell Helicopters, as a tier one team member.
“We made the strategic decision to invest in a mission system and provide Bell Helicopter with this leap-ahead combat capability on the V-280 Valor,” said Dale P. Bennett, executive vice president, Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training.
“The U.S. Government and Lockheed Martin have created affordable yet highly-advanced mission equipment packages for numerous aircraft that can be leveraged to provide an affordable and effective solution for the Future Vertical Lift program. Our efforts will allow the U.S. Army to take advantage of the advanced technology and maturity we’ve achieved in integrated avionics, sensors, and weapons.”
The Bell V-280 Valor was recently selected by the U.S. Army to enter into negotiations for the Joint Multi-Role (JMR) Technology Demonstrator (TD) program, with contracts expected to be awarded by September 2013. The transformational features of Bell Helicopter's third generation tiltrotor capitalize on combat-proven technology. The Valor is designed to deliver the best value in procurement, operations and support, and force structure, through increased maintainability, component reliability and systems designed to reduce operational and support costs.
The Valor’s versatile design has the capacity to perform a multitude of missions with unparalleled speed, range and agility, making the aircraft a combat multiplier. The Bell V-280 is the most advanced and operationally effective vertical lift solution, providing the warfighter a decisive advantage.
The JMR-TD program is the science and technology precursor to the US Department of Defense's estimated $100 billion Future Vertical Lift program expected to replace between 2000-4000 medium class utility and attack helicopters. The U.S. Army and Department of Defense are seeking leap-ahead capabilities and have identified a speed of 230+ knots as a key discriminating capability. Its current fleet cruises at 130 knots.
