Bell’s V-280 Tiltrotor Is Part F-35
By Richard Whittle and Colin Clark on October 05, 2016 at 6:15 PM
Bell V-280 Valor Joint Multi-Role Demonstrator
Bell V-280 Valor tiltrotor – artist’s rendering
AUSA: Bell Helicopter’s exhibit at this week’s Association of the United States Army convention includes a full-scale mockup of the V-280 Valor, the new tiltrotor the company is building. From the outside, it sure looks like a close cousin of the V-22 Osprey.
Under the skin, the V-280 seems a lot more like a prop-driven F-35. The first sign is six relatively small, round holes in the V-280’s composite skin. Those holes – two in the V-280’s nose, two near its V-shaped tail and one each on the top and bottom of the fuselage – are where Bell plans to install small video cameras, creating a Distributed Aperture System similar to one used by the F-35. As in the F-35, the imagery collected by those cameras will be quilted together by a computer program to create a live 360-degree view displayed on the visor of the pilot’s helmet, allowing him to see what’s under, above, in front of or behind the aircraft.
http://breakingdefense.com/2016/10/bells-v-280-tiltrotor-is-part-f-35/
