Bell’s V-280 tiltrotor flew for the first time in cruise mode on 11 May. The company says the vertical take-off and landing aircraft achieved a speed of 190 knots and that at a later date, within the next 90 days the company says, it will aim to increase this to 280 knots. 

The new Bell V-280 Valor is a medium, tactical tiltrotor aircraft designed for the U.S. Army Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) program. The V-280 Valor is a proposed candidate for a new JMR-Medium utility and attack helicopter to potentially replace the UH-60 Blackhawk utility helicopter and the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.

The V-280 Valor is intended to carry up to 14 troops and a useful load of 5 thousand 450 kilograms.