{"id":33580,"date":"2018-03-01T23:17:20","date_gmt":"2018-03-01T23:17:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/01\/the-v-280-tilt-rotor-aircraft-could-change-the-way-air-assault-troops-operate\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:49:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:49:25","slug":"the-v-280-tilt-rotor-aircraft-could-change-the-way-air-assault-troops-operate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2018\/03\/01\/the-v-280-tilt-rotor-aircraft-could-change-the-way-air-assault-troops-operate\/","title":{"rendered":"The V-280 tilt-rotor aircraft could change the way air assault troops operate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bell\u2019s<\/a> V-280 Valor<\/a> tilt-rotor aircraft should be a welcome addition to units conducting fast rope insertions, rappelling, or any other air assault operation<\/a>, company officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis will carry a squad of Army soldiers, or a squad of Marines, to an assault area faster and increase the lethality compared to the V-22 [Osprey]<\/a>, which is a larger platform and more of a utility aircraft,\u201d said Jeff Schloesser, a retired Army major general and executive vice president of strategic pursuits for Bell\u2019s<\/a> Washington operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schloesser spoke to Army Times Thursday during the National Defense Industrial Association<\/a>\u2019s annual special operations\/low-intensity conflict symposium and exhibition in Arlington, Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the increased functionality, it should be more comfortable, too. Troops who have used the Fast Rope Insertion Extraction System, or FRIES, on a V-22 can probably recall the intense rotor wash and engine heat pounding them while trying to grip the rope on insertion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the V-280\u2019s wing doesn\u2019t tilt like a V-22, a necessity for shipboard operations, fast-ropers leaving the aircraft\u2019s side-door avoid \u201cthe hot air from the engine going out backwards,\u201d Schloesser said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEssentially, what you got is two six-foot doors, you just slide your fast rope bar out, and out you go, and this [wing placement] protects you from that downwash,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Bell V-280 Valor on display at the annual Association of the US Army conference at Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., on Monday, October 12, 2015. \r<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The V-280 Valor is a tilt-rotor aircraft built for an Army-led demonstration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army had been planning \u2014 through its Joint Multi-Role demonstrator program \u2014 for two very different vertical lift prototypes to begin flight demonstrations last fall as part of a critical path to informing and shaping the design of a Future Vertical Lift helicopter fleet expected to hit the skies in the 2030s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The V-280 had its maiden flight<\/a> Dec. 18. The other prototype, the Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant coaxial helicopter, is expected to take its first flight some time this year after falling behind on the original goal of September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bell\u2019s Valor will come in both an armed and an assault version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The V-280 isn\u2019t designed for ship launches, but in a pinch, takeoff from the deck of a carrier would be possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s shipboard compatible, but it\u2019s not meant to be living on a ship for extended periods of time,\u201d Schloesser said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t