Currently, the United States is the only country in the world with tiltrotor aircraft in service with its army. The Bell V-22 Osprey tiltrotor is in service with the US Navy and the Marine Corps. In the near future, he may have an alternative. We are talking about a tiltrotor, which received the designation Bell V-280 Valor ("Valor"). The project of this aircraft was presented to the general public on April 10, 2013. With the new V-280 project, the company is going to take part in a tender announced by the US Army for the creation of a medium multi-purpose tiltrotor or helicopter, which in the 2030s will have to replace the fleet of outdated UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. A flying prototype of a promising aircraft will tentatively take to the sky in 2017.
It is worth noting that to replace the UH-60 Blackhawk, as well as the combat Boeing AH-64 Apache, which are in service with the US Army, the V-280 Valor is not the only option under consideration. Its possible competitors are already called a helicopter with coaxial propellers AVX Aircraft, a joint development of Boeing and Sikorsky, built on the basis of the experimental X-2 and a certain aircraft under the abbreviation EADS, the details of which are still practically unknown. However, if Bell succeeds, the V-280 Valor will be able to replace about 4 thousand AH-64 Apache attack helicopters and multi-purpose UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters. The tiltrotor has the following advantages over these machines: high speed, increased flight range, the efficiency of the machine, according to the manufacturer, is 2 times higher than helicopters and their hybrids.
The US military has not yet made formal requirements for promising convertiplanes and helicopters. At the same time, they nevertheless announced that the new aircraft should surpass all existing rotary-wing aircraft in terms of flight range, speed, carrying capacity, fuel efficiency and ability to hover in the air. It is assumed that the new car will be able to hover at an altitude of at least 3000 meters, as well as fly at a cruising speed at an altitude of at least 9100 meters. At the same time, the development of such machines will require the creation of universal engines adapted to perform various tasks, as well as a system for providing pilots with oxygen.
It is reported that the new tiltrotor belongs to the 3rd generation, but on what specific grounds Bell Helicopter made the division of the tiltrotor into generations is not specified. Now the only serially produced aircraft of this type is the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor, most likely this aircraft is related to the 2nd generation. In this case, it is highly probable that the XV-3 and XV-15 tiltroplanes, which were created back in the 1950s-1970s, are recognized as the first generation at Bell Helicopter. At the same time, the company is engaged in the creation of such machines not only for the military. The Americans, together with the Italian company AgustaWestland, are developing the AW609 tiltrotor designed for the needs of the civilian market.
Unlike the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor, the propellers of which tilted along with the engines, on the new American development the engines will be fixed in a horizontal position, and the transition from airplane mode to helicopter mode will be done by tilting the propellers alone. The V-280 tiltrotor will receive a straight swept wing (the V-22 uses a forward swept wing). The wing will be manufactured in one piece using Large Cell Carbon Core technology, which will reduce the weight of the entire structure and reduce manufacturing costs. In addition, this technology allows you to quickly identify defects that arise during the operation of the device.
The fuselage of the Bell V-280 will be made of composite materials. Also, the design of this aircraft provides for a fly-buy-wire control system with triple duplication of channels and a massive V-shaped tail unit. The use of such a tail will slightly reduce the effective scattering area of Valor, as well as stabilize flight in airplane mode.
A key element of the project is cost reduction and design simplification compared to the mass-produced V-22. The wing of the V-280 tiltrotor will be produced as one large composite panel. Also, the base model V-280 will not receive the sophisticated wing-folding mechanism used on the naval version of the V-22.
The use of rotors with nacelles fixed in a horizontal position on the V-280 tiltrotor makes it possible to eliminate any danger when the paratroopers leave the vehicle through the side doors. It also makes it easier to fire and increases the angle of fire from machine guns, which can be installed in doorways, while approaching a target or landing on the ground in case of detection of an enemy. In addition, this design reduces the technical risk and also eliminates the need to certify the aircraft motors at different tilt angles. Bell Helicopter is confident that the air flow slope will be located at an intermediate level between conventional helicopters and the V-22 Osprey.
According to the published data, the V-280 Valor tiltrotor will be able to develop a cruising speed of 518.6 km / h, and its combat radius will be in the range of 926-1481 km, the ferry range will be 3.9 thousand km. For boarding and disembarking of the crew, as well as firing, it is planned to use 2 side doors with a width of 1, 8 m. Also, the V-280 Valor will receive a retractable landing gear. If we talk about decoding the name of the machine, then the letter "V" indicates to us the possibility of vertical take-off and landing, and 280 is the cruising speed of the vehicle in knots. The tiltrotor crew will consist of 4 people.
Comparison of the combat radii of the UH-60 (green) and V-280 (blue)
It is reported that Bell Helicopter is ready to present to the military 2 basic models of its new tiltrotor: shock and transport. The transport version of the V-280 Valor is designed to transport up to 11 troops or any kind of cargo (the maximum carrying capacity of the vehicle is not specified). The radius of the flight zone of the transport tiltrotor will be 463 km. The attack version of the V-280 Valor tiltrotor is positioned as a possible replacement for the AH-64 Apache helicopters. In the strike version, the aircraft will receive a complex of high-precision weapons in special suspended containers, and a rapid-fire cannon will be placed in the nose of the aircraft on a special turret.
Today Bell Helicopter is partnering with Boeing to manufacture the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor. This car can reach speeds of up to 556 km / h, and the cruising speed is 446 km / h. The combat radius of this vehicle is 722 kilometers. The V-22 Osprey tiltrotor can carry up to 32 military personnel or payloads weighing up to 9 tons. As a weapon, it can be equipped with machine guns of 7, 62 and 12, 7 mm caliber, as well as a six-barreled 7, 62-mm machine gun in a special hanging container.
It is worth noting that the new tiltrotor did not ensure a happy future for itself. Until 2030, there are still 17 years left, during which much can change significantly. Initially, the US military expected to receive prototypes of a promising rotorcraft with a new power plant back in 2010. But due to the onset of the global financial and economic crisis and the subsequent decrease in spending on some promising defense programs, their completion dates were postponed to a later date. But even now, while optimizing the country's budget, the US government has obliged the military to annually reduce their spending since March 2013 (by $ 46 billion in 2013). And this can again lead to a postponement of the deadlines for a number of promising projects, and in case of an unfavorable outcome, even the cancellation of programs.
