Bell V-280 Valor: A Flight Test Update

The Bell V-280 Valor is Bell's next-generation tiltrotor, designed, built, and tested to provide a revolutionary capability in vertical lift while informing the affordability and mission performance needs of a Future Vertical Lift program of record. The V-280 Valor Joint Multi Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) entered flight test with its First Flight on Dec 18, 2017 following extensive Safety of Flight component tests, systems integration lab (SIL) development, aircraft assembly, functional tests, and restrained ground runs. The partnership between Bell and the US Army spanned all phases of the V-280 design, assembly, and testing, including experimental flight testing by a US Army pilot on February 7, 2018. The V-280 Valor demonstrates the incorporation of advanced technology on an advanced rotorcraft platform, now undergoing validation testing and envelope expansion. In the coming months, flight testing will continue toward the demonstration of its Key Performance Parameters (KPPs).