Critical Tests Approaching for Bell Helicopter’s V-280 Valor
4/11/2017
By Yasmin Tadjdeh
V-280 demonstrator
AMARILLO, Texas — With 95 percent of Bell Helicopter’s V-280 Valor aircraft built, the company is preparing for critical tests this summer and fall, said a company executive April 10.
Ground testing is slated for July and the Valor’s first flight is scheduled for September, said Jeff Josselyn, Bell’s V-280 assembly leader.
The company has offered the Valor to the Army for its joint multi-role technology demonstration. A Sikorsky-Boeing team is building the SB-1 Defiant. The demonstration is a precursor to the future vertical lift program, which is still in its infancy, and aims to eventually replace thousands of helicopters in the late 2020s and 2030s with a new vertical take-off and landing aircraft.
http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2017/4/11/critical-tests-approaching-for-bell-helicopters-v280-valor
