But the Osprey has also proven essential as a utility workhorse for a Corps that’s been reckoning with its own increasing aviation mishap crisis across multiple airframes in recent years. The now-widely adopted Marine Corps V-22 Osprey developed a reputation as “dangerous and unreliable” after four deadly crashes claimed the lives of some 30 personnel during testing between 19, according to Fortune as recently as August 2017, an MV-22 Osprey crash off the coast of Australia killed three Marines.
To be fair, tiltrotor aircraft don’t necessarily inspire confidence, either. Army and represents a transformational aircraft for all the challenging missions our armed forces are asked to undertake.” “The Valor is designed to revolutionize vertical lift for the U.S. The initial flight “demonstrates our commitment to supporting Department of Defense leadership’s modernization priorities and acquisition reform initiatives,” Bell CEO Mitch Snyder said in a statement on Dec. In September, Bell parent company Textron Inc declared the V-280 “100%” complete a month later, it published footage of the new aircraft flexing its tiltrotor muscles, to coincide with the Valor’s debut on the floor of the Association of the U.S. Bell and partner Lockheed Martin were selected in 2014 to develop an aircraft for an Army research program that feeds into the Pentagon’s sweeping DoD-wide review of its helicopter fleets, the Future Vertical Lift program. With its first flight, the versatile Valor takes a major step towards actual combat downrange.