Bell Textron Inc. has entered into a teaming agreement with Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) for collaboration on Bell’s High-Speed Vertical Takeoff and Landing (HSVTOL) aircraft.
As part of the agreement, SNC will specifically support the design and development of mission systems for HSVTOL variants.
According to Bell, its HSVTOL vehicles blend the hover capability of a helicopter with the speed, range and survivability features of fighter aircraft, with low downwash hover capability and jet-like speeds of more than 400 kts.
This family of scalable aircraft concepts is designed to carry out US Air Force (USAF) and US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) missions across the full spectrum of conflict and political scenarios, including personnel recovery, contested logistics and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR)/Strike.
“In an effort to advance technical maturity and deliver HSVTOL capability to warfighters sooner, Bell is assembling a team of industry-leading partners. We’re thrilled to have SNC onboard,” said Jason Hurst, vice president, Innovation, Bell. “We’ve made significant progress in Bell’s HSVTOL technology development in 2022, and we look forward to showing this progress in the upcoming year.”
“SNC is delighted to join the Bell HSVTOL development team, and we are already hard at work to deliver the visionary mission systems that Bell demands for their visionary aircraft,” said Derek Hess, vice president, strategic program business development at SNC. “Our nation’s warfighters will benefit from this HSVTOL program’s ground-breaking operational capabilities.”
Similar to Bell’s innovation development, SNC continues to leverage its mission systems expertise to explore dynamic new opportunities. SNC also supports Bell with additional mission systems expertise for the development of the Bell 360 Invictus for the US Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) competition.
Bell is currently executing its HSVTOL risk reduction effort and participating in the AFWERX HSVTOL Concept Challenge, a crowdsourcing effort for the USAF and USSOCOM. Bell is one of 11 companies from more than 200 challenge entrants selected to receive market research investments aimed at advancing HSVTOL technology.
