Latest news with #MV-75
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Move over, Black Hawk: Army unveils the MV-75, tiltrotor aircraft to replace iconic assault chopper
The U.S. Army is preparing to retire its iconic Black Hawk helicopters — the workhorses of its air assault fleet for nearly five decades — in favor of a faster, more versatile aircraft built for the challenges of 21st-century warfare. Bell Aircraft's V-280 Valor, a cutting-edge tiltrotor aircraft, has been selected to begin phasing out the Black Hawk by the 2030s. Once fully deployed, it will be designated the MV-75, though a common nickname has yet to emerge. The Valor combines the vertical lift capabilities of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing airplane, cruising at 320 mph — nearly double the Black Hawk's top speed of 175 mph. This hybrid design, enabled by tiltrotor technology, allows the MV-75 to hover, land vertically in tight spaces, and then shift into high-speed horizontal flight. It's tailor-made for operations in the Indo-Pacific region, where U.S. forces must be able to travel long distances over the ocean and conduct rapid insertions into constrained environments, such as jungle clearings or island terrain without runways. Fox News Digital recently took a tour of Bell's Advanced Vertical Lift Center in Crystal City, Virginia. Billions Spent, Warfighters Wait: Inside The Pentagon's Broken Buying System And The Plan To Fix It "The Army recognized that the battlefield has changed," Rob Freeland, Bell's director of government relations and public affairs, said in an interview with Fox News Digital. "The enemy now has long-range fires, advanced sensors, and robust networks. You have to move faster and strike before they do." Read On The Fox News App Speed and range are at the heart of this transformation. As Freeland put it: "If you can move at twice the speed and range of your adversary, you can change the outcome before they can react." The MV-75 is designed to carry up to 14 troops and haul payloads of 10,000 pounds, making it ideal for rapid troop deployments, heavy resupply and surprise assault missions. It will also feature autonomous and semi-autonomous capabilities, a leap forward in reducing pilot workload and enabling future unmanned operations. The V-280 Valor beat out a proposed joint Sikorsky-Boeing compound helicopter platform dubbed the SB-1 Defiant-X in 2019 for the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program. The Army has contracted Texas-based aerospace company Bell to build six prototypes, conduct the first test flight by 2026 and begin full-scale production by 2028, with delivery targeted for 2030. However, leadership has expressed interest in accelerating that schedule under the Army Transformation Initiative. "We're not waiting for a distant out-year to make this thing real," said Gen. James Mingus, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, speaking at the Mission Solutions Summit earlier this month. "We are driving to get this aircraft online years ahead of schedule." Hegseth Orders Sweeping Army Overhaul And Consolidation Aimed At Countering China And Golden Dome Capabilities The "MV" designation reflects the aircraft's multi-mission and vertical takeoff capabilities. It's built for a broad range of missions, including air assault, maritime interdiction, medical evacuation (MEDEVAC), combat search and rescue, and tactical resupply. The first unit to receive the MV-75 will be the 101st Airborne Division, the Army's elite air assault force. One of the Army's priorities in selecting a replacement was reliability. After years of dealing with aging helicopters requiring frequent maintenance, the Army is demanding aircraft that can stay in the fight with minimal downtime. "Because it's inherently reliable, you don't need a mountain of gear next to you just to keep the aircraft flying," said Freeland. The MV-75 program is part of a broader Pentagon push to modernize U.S. military capabilities in an era defined by strategic competition with China. Since entering service in the late 1970s, the UH-60 Black Hawk has been the backbone of Army aviation. It has flown in nearly every major U.S. military operation over the past 40 years, from evacuating wounded troops in Grenada and Panama, to supporting combat and logistics missions in Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan. The Black Hawk was infamously involved in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, and became a household name through its depiction in the 1999 book and 2001 movie "Black Hawk Down." Its versatility, durability and ability to perform under fire made it a symbol of American air power — but after decades of use, its replacement will need to adapt to the evolving article source: Move over, Black Hawk: Army unveils the MV-75, tiltrotor aircraft to replace iconic assault chopper
Fox News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Move over, Black Hawk: Army unveils the MV-75, tiltrotor aircraft to replace iconic assault chopper
The U.S. Army is preparing to retire its iconic Black Hawk helicopters — the workhorses of its air assault fleet for nearly five decades — in favor of a faster, more versatile aircraft built for the challenges of 21st-century warfare. Bell Aircraft's V-280 Valor, a cutting-edge tiltrotor aircraft, has been selected to begin phasing out the Black Hawk by the 2030s. Once fully deployed, it will be designated the MV-75, though a common nickname has yet to emerge. The Valor combines the vertical lift capabilities of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing airplane, cruising at 320 mph — nearly double the Black Hawk's top speed of 175 mph. This hybrid design, enabled by tiltrotor technology, allows the MV-75 to hover, land vertically in tight spaces, and then shift into high-speed horizontal flight. It's tailor-made for operations in the Indo-Pacific region, where U.S. forces must be able to travel long distances over the ocean and conduct rapid insertions into constrained environments, such as jungle clearings or island terrain without runways. Fox News Digital recently took a tour of Bell's Advanced Vertical Lift Center in Crystal City, Virginia. "The Army recognized that the battlefield has changed," Rob Freeland, Bell's director of government relations and public affairs, said in an interview with Fox News Digital. "The enemy now has long-range fires, advanced sensors, and robust networks. You have to move faster and strike before they do." Speed and range are at the heart of this transformation. As Freeland put it: "If you can move at twice the speed and range of your adversary, you can change the outcome before they can react." The MV-75 is designed to carry up to 14 troops and haul payloads of 10,000 pounds, making it ideal for rapid troop deployments, heavy resupply and surprise assault missions. It will also feature autonomous and semi-autonomous capabilities, a leap forward in reducing pilot workload and enabling future unmanned operations. The V-280 Valor beat out a proposed joint Sikorsky-Boeing compound helicopter platform dubbed the SB-1 Defiant-X in 2019 for the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program. The Army has contracted Texas-based aerospace company Bell to build six prototypes, conduct the first test flight by 2026 and begin full-scale production by 2028, with delivery targeted for 2030. However, leadership has expressed interest in accelerating that schedule under the Army Transformation Initiative. "We're not waiting for a distant out-year to make this thing real," said Gen. James Mingus, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, speaking at the Mission Solutions Summit earlier this month. "We are driving to get this aircraft online years ahead of schedule." The "MV" designation reflects the aircraft's multi-mission and vertical takeoff capabilities. It's built for a broad range of missions, including air assault, maritime interdiction, medical evacuation (MEDEVAC), combat search and rescue, and tactical resupply. The first unit to receive the MV-75 will be the 101st Airborne Division, the Army's elite air assault force. One of the Army's priorities in selecting a replacement was reliability. After years of dealing with aging helicopters requiring frequent maintenance, the Army is demanding aircraft that can stay in the fight with minimal downtime. "Because it's inherently reliable, you don't need a mountain of gear next to you just to keep the aircraft flying," said Freeland. The MV-75 program is part of a broader Pentagon push to modernize U.S. military capabilities in an era defined by strategic competition with China. Since entering service in the late 1970s, the UH-60 Black Hawk has been the backbone of Army aviation. It has flown in nearly every major U.S. military operation over the past 40 years, from evacuating wounded troops in Grenada and Panama, to supporting combat and logistics missions in Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan. The Black Hawk was infamously involved in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, and became a household name through its depiction in the 1999 book and 2001 movie "Black Hawk Down." Its versatility, durability and ability to perform under fire made it a symbol of American air power — but after decades of use, its replacement will need to adapt to the evolving battlefield.
Business Insider
24-05-2025
- Automotive
- Business Insider
See the MV-75 tiltrotor set to be the US Army's next premier air assault vehicle and replace the UH-60 Black Hawk
It flies like a helicopter, cruises like a plane, and could redefine how the US Army fights wars within the next decade. The Army chose the Bell V-280 Valor as its next-generation assault aircraft, designed to fly longer and faster than current rotorcraft. Officially designated the MV-75, the Army is betting on the Bell tiltrotor to modernize its aging fleet of military helicopters. For nearly 50 years, the UH-60 Black Hawk has been the Army's airborne workhorse. The Army plans to continue flying the Black Hawk for the next several years as it fast-tracks the rollout of the new tiltrotor replacement fleet in the 2030s. Bell V-280 Valor Developed by Bell Textron, a Texas-based aerospace company, the V-280 was designed with "transformational increases in speed, range, and maneuverability," the Army said in a 2020 release. Propelled by two Rolls-Royce turboshaft engines, the V-280's tiltrotor design allows the aircraft to take off and land vertically like a helicopter and fly like an airplane, like the Bell Boeing MV-22 Osprey. In order to be a contender for the Army's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, the competing aircraft were required to cruise at speeds of up to 322 miles per hour — nearly twice as fast as the Black Hawk's cruising speed of 174 mph. The aircraft was expected to carry up to 14 fully equipped passengers or accommodate external payloads of up to 10,000 pounds. The FLRAA also had to be able to operate at 6,000 feet in temperatures up to 95 degrees Fahrenheit and fly at least 1,700 nautical miles without refueling. A 'leap ahead' Gen. James Mingus, the Army's vice chief of staff, described the MV-75 as a "leap ahead in technology and capability." "It delivers operational reach that alters how we close with the enemy," Mingus said at the Army Aviation Association of America conference on May 14. "It brings the right combination of speed, payload, and survivability we've never had in one aircraft." The concept is that each MV-75 can rush over a dozen heavily loaded troopers onto assault missions that can catch an enemy off guard. Next-generation military helicopters Bell's V-280 Valor was selected in 2022 as the Army's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, chosen over the Sikorsky-Boeing Defiant X. The FLRAA is part of the Army's broader effort to modernize its aerial fleet, known as Future Vertical Lift. The Army also planned to develop a new armed scout helicopter known as the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft, but the program was canceled earlier this year to prioritize the fielding of the MV-75. The Army is "not just committed to the programme, but how we do it faster as well," Mingus said. Multimission Vertical Takeoff The "M" in the aircraft's designation refers to its multimission purpose, and the "V" represents its vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capability. While the MV-75 design has yet to be finalized, the future tiltrotor is expected to have a baseline variant that will incorporate features to adapt it to special operations. After entering the engineering and manufacturing stage last year, Bell is under contract to build six prototypes of the MV-75. The Texas-based aerospace company projects to complete its first flight in 2026 and low-rate initial production in 2028. The aircraft is slated to be delivered to the Army around 2030. 'Rapid response and enhanced maneuverability' The next-generation aircraft is expected to serve on missions involving vertical lift, air assault, maritime interdiction, medical evacuation, combat search and rescue, humanitarian relief, and tactical resupply. 101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division, the only Army division specializing in air assault operations, is set to be the first frontline unit to field the MV-75. For nearly six decades, the unit's Combat Aviation Brigade has been operating assault helicopters, such as AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters, UH-60M Black Hawk utility helicopters, and CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters. "The 101st flies into real-world contested environments, across wide terrain, often without the luxury of fixed support infrastructure," Mingus said. "They need speed, endurance, and reliability." Preparing for a fight in the Pacific The modernization of the Army's aerial fleet comes as the US military prepares for a potential conflict with China. The long-range mobility of the Army's future aircraft fleet is essential for the vast Pacific theater, consisting of island chains separated by long distances and limited Army infrastructure in the region. The Future Vertical Lift initiative is also focused on enhancing survivability against Chinese and Russian air defenses by equipping future aircraft with high-speed capabilities and reduced radar signatures. Autonomous and semi-autonomous flight Amid the Pentagon's push for AI use within its ranks, the Army is also looking to integrate autonomous and semi-autonomous flight technology into its systems, including the MV-75. "The Army wants to make sure that aircraft can be unmanned," Textron CEO Scott Donnelly said during an earnings call in April. In December 2019, the V-280 Valor successfully completed an autonomous test flight at the company's research center in Arlington, Texas, though two pilots remained onboard to intervene if necessary.
Axios
21-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Screaming Eagles will be first to get U.S. Army's MV-75
The 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, will be the first to receive the MV-75 Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft. Why it matters: The Bell Textron-made tiltrotor will replace a significant portion of the Black Hawk helicopter fleet. The yearslong FLRAA competition pitted some of the biggest names in defense against each other. Driving the news: Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Mingus revealed the plan at the Army Aviation Association of America's conference in Tennessee. "This aircraft changes how we move forces. More importantly, it changes the geometry of ground combat," he said. "And we're not waiting for a distant out-year to make this thing real." "The 101st flies into real-world contested environments, across wide terrain, often without the luxury of fixed support infrastructure. They need speed, endurance, and reliability." Catch up quick: Bell bested a Sikorsky-Boeing team in 2022. The Government Accountability Office denied a contract protest in 2023. Fun fact: The MV-75 designation refers to its multi-mission assignments (air assault, medical evacuation and resupply), its vertical-takeoff-and-landing capabilities and the establishment of the Army in 1775.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Yahoo
MV-75 Official Designation Given To Future U.S. Army Tiltrotor Assault Aircraft
The U.S. Army's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) tiltrotors will be designated MV-75s, the service announced today at the Army Aviation Association of America's annual Mission Solutions Summit. In 2022, the Army picked a design from Bell based on that company's V-280 Valor tiltrotor as the winner of its FLRAA competition. The service expects to replace a substantial number of its H-60 Black Hawk helicopters, including a portion of the special operations MH-60Ms assigned to the elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), with new MV-75s. The design is set to be finalized by the end of the year, and incorporates features to help make it easier to convert baseline variants into special operations versions. Just announced by the @USArmy: MV-75! The U.S. Army's official mission-design series designator (MDS) for the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA). #FLRAA#MV75#ArmyModernization# — Bell (@BellFlight) May 14, 2025 A prototype YMV-75A designation for FLRAA was reportedly approved in November 2024, according to the website. TWZ had been working to confirm that designation with the Army since March. In terms of the designation itself, the 'M' stands for 'multi-mission' and the 'V' refers to it being a vertical takeoff and landing capable design. The use of the 'M' prefix for the baseline FLRAA variant is interesting given that previous Army transport helicopters like the Black Hawk and the Chinook have all had designations starting with 'U' for utility or 'C' for cargo. The 'multi-mission' designation here may, in part, reflect the baked-in special operations-specific features. The Army may also be expecting the baseline FLRAA design to be more readily adaptable to other missions, like the casualty evacuation or 'dustoff' role. Army helicopters used for that mission set have often had designations 'H' search and rescue prefixes. Whether the number '75,' which is very much out of sequence with other known 'V' designations, has any special significance is unknown. says that XV-25A, reportedly approved last year for the experimental tilt-ducted fan ARES drone, is the most recent in-sequence designation in that category. TWZ has reached out to the Army for more information. The official announcement of the MV-75 designation for FLRAA comes as the Army is looking to accelerate the fielding of these tiltrotors. The service sees the increased speed and range the tiltrotors offer over the Black Hawk as particularly critical for any future high-end conflict in the Pacific region. The Army's stated goal has been for the MV-75 to begin entering service by 2030, but has said more recently that they are now trying to aim for the 2028 timeframe. The service has also pushed back on reports about the potential for the FLRAA program to be truncated or even cancelled as part of a larger service-wide force restructuring. The 101st Airborne Division, the Army's premier air assault unit, is set to be the first unit to get MV-75s. The 101st has already begun laying the groundwork to receive the future titlors, which officials say will completely transform how it conducts operations, as you can read more about here. As noted, versions specially configured for special operations missions are also on the horizon for the 160th SOAR. 'We're not waiting for a distant out-year to make this thing real,' Gen. James Mingus, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, said in prepared remarks at the Mission Solutions Summit today, according to Defense News. 'Under the Army Transformation Initiative, we are driving to get this aircraft online years ahead of schedule.' If the Army has its way, at least as it has been communicated now, the first operational MV-75s could start being delivered well before the end of the decade. Contact the author: joe@
