When prototypes retire

Now Bell has officially mothballed the V-280 Valor Tech Demonstrator. This is a tiltrotor aircraft, similar to an Osprey, that is being considered for the FLRAA (Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft) project of the US Army.

Now the V-280 will be mothballed, while the project team enters the next hot phase of the FLRAA competition with the collected data. Bell justified this decision by saying that everything that was planned had been achieved.

V-280 stands for the maximum speed, which is 280 knots, approximately equivalent to 520 km/h. In tests, this speed could even be exceeded with 306 knots (565 km/h).

The tiltrotor aircraft V-280 has been flying since December 18, 2017. In contrast to the Osprey, only the rotors tilt here and not the entire engine, which is a major advantage.

We are excited to see the final design that Bell will enter into the FLRAA competition with. Interestingly, the competitor to the V-280 is the Defiant X from Sikorksy.

The Bell V-280 Valor on the Internet