Bell is one of 11 companies, out of more than 200 challenge participants, selected to receive market research investments aimed at advancing solutions to develop the next generation of high-speed vertical takeoff aircraft.
Bell Textron Inc. announced its advancement to the next phase of the AFWERX High-Speed Vertical Takeoff and Landing (HSVTOL) concept challenge, a research challenge driven by the United States Air Force (USAF) and the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).
AFWERX Challenge is a high-quality market research program. It uses design thinking workshops, crowdsourcing, collaborative showcase events, and innovative contracting avenues. With this, it covers a broad network of innovators from industry and academia to apply their latest technologies and solutions to government problems. And it also accelerates the path from idea to solution implementation and deployment.
Bell’s words:
“Bell is delighted that our HSVTOL concepts have been selected for the next phase of the U.S. Air Force AFWERX Challenge,” said Jason Hurst, Bell’s vice president of Innovation. “As we enter this next phase, Bell teams will continue to lay the groundwork for the production of another revolutionary military aircraft and provide USSOCOM and the U.S. Air Force with concept designs and development roadmaps to accelerate this capability for the warfighter.”
Bell’s HSVTOL vehicles combine the vertical flight capability of a helicopter with the speed, range, and survivability characteristics of combat aircraft. This family of scalable aircraft concepts is designed to support a range of missions. These include search and rescue (SAR), ISR and autonomous attack, and tactical mobility, combining helicopter capabilities with jet-like speeds of more than 400 kts (740 km).
Bell’s concepts:
Our Bell concepts are envisioned as part of a broader HSVTOL mission system framework. Such one seeks to provide the next generation of aircraft with vastly increased speed, range, and survivability. These concepts will provide the flexibility needed to carry out USAF and USSOCOM missions across the full spectrum of political and conflict scenarios. Bell has become a top entrant in the HSVTOL Concept Challenge competition. The company has done so by meeting or exceeding rigorous evaluation criteria focused on technical merit, reliability, scalability, and other factors.
“The HSVTOL Concept Challenge has presented an impressive array of solutions that help us understand how to build a new class of air vehicles,” said Dr. Reid Melville, chief innovation officer, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Transformational Capabilities Office. “We believe the organizations selected to receive market research investments at this stage have the potential to deliver truly groundbreaking innovation.”
Over the next six months, Bell will continue to develop its HSVTOL solution, working closely with the USAF, USSOCOM, and Collaboration.Ai, the prime contractor facilitating the HSVTOL concept challenge.
