Spirit completes first V-280 fuselage

[Zarvan]

An artist's impression of the Bell V-280. Source: Bell Helicopter
Key Points

• Spirit AeroSystems is preparing to ship the first Bell V-280 fuselage to Bell Helicopter's Texas plant for final assembly
• The V-280 is one of two aircraft to be flown in the US Army's 2017 JMR demonstration

Spirit AeroSystems has completed the first fuselage for the developmental Bell Helicopter V-280 Valor tiltrotor aircraft, Spirit announced on 22 September.

"Delivering a fuselage from design to completion in 22 months is an amazing accomplishment," Spirit President and CEO Larry Lawson said in a statement. The composite fuselage was designed and assembled in Spirit's rapid prototyping facility in Wichita, Kansas, and is being prepared for shipment to Bell's Amarillo, Texas, facility for final assembly, according to Spirit.

Bell is developing the Valor for the US Army's Joint MultiRole Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) programme, the precursor to the Pentagon's Future Vertical Lift (FVL) programme. FVL is expected to replace thousands of helicopters in the department's inventory.

JMR-TD flights for the army are scheduled for 2017. In addition to Bell, Boeing and Sikorsky are under contract to build a demonstrator: the SB-1 Defiant co-axial rotorcraft. AVX and Karem have received smaller awards to continue research into their future helicopter technologies. The army plans to field FVL medium helicopters in the 2030s, with a heavy version to follow in the 2040s.

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Spirit completes first V-280 fuselage - IHS Jane's 360