Despite the absence of US Army personnel at the annual Army Aviation Association of America exposition (Quad-A, 10-13 April) -blame the hard-line approach on the sequestration blues among the military leadership - there were a couple of mainline announcements. Arguably the most significant was Bell Helicopter's announcement of its 3rd generation tilt-rotor for the Joint Multi Role (JMR) Technology Demonstrator (TD), the V-280 VALOR (V is for vertical; 280 represents the knots cruise speed; and VALOR as a tribute to the serving soldier). Bell Helicopter's President and CEO John Garrison drew attention to the fact that the V-280 VALOR is third generation technology, which is also scalable. The Bell/Boeing V-22 OSPREY has now seen service in both Iraq and Afghanistan for many years and in a wide range of scenarios. Tilt-rotor technology has also been adapted and flown in the form of the Bell EAGLE EYE UAS.
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