Sierra Nevada to support Bell High-Speed VTOL project
Bell Textron has announced a partnership agreement with the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), to support the development of Bell’s High-Speed Vertical Takeoff and Landing (HSVTOL) aircraft
SNC will be specifically employed by Bell to support the design and development of mission systems for HSVTOL variants.
The HSVTOL project is intended to develop aircraft that combine the hover capability of a helicopter with the speed, range and survivability features of a fighter aircraft – combining low downwash hover capabilities with prospective speeds of over 400 knots (740km/h).
Bell says that the family of aircraft concepts being developed as part of the HSVTOL project are ‘designed to carry out US Air Force (USAF) and US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) missions across the full spectrum … including personnel recovery, contested logistics and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)/Strike’.
Bell first unveiled its design concepts employing HSVTOL technology in August 2021, later announcing that its project advanced to the next stage of USAF and USSOCOM’s crowdsourcing AFWERX HSVTOL Concept Challenge in February 2022. Bell is one of 11 companies remaining in the challenge, with over 200 entrants.
Oliver Cuenca
Oliver Cuenca is a Junior Editor at AirMed&Rescue. He was previously a News and Features Journalist for the rail magazine IRJ until 2021, and studied MA Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. His favourite helicopter is the AW169 – the workhorse of the UK air ambulance sector! He also led the creation of Waypoint: The AirMed&Rescue podcast, serving as its Production Editor and co-host.