Name Commemorates Army Birth Year, Mission, But No Word Yet on a Name

Bell’s new tiltrotor prototype has been officially given a name under the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft program, designating it the MV-75.

Those in the game for a while may recall the aircraft used to be called the Bell V-280 Valor, but that was its old, square, commercial name, replaced by a cooler military designation instead. The U.S. Army will probably, maybe, possibly end up replacing its fleet of UH-60 Blackhawks with the MV-75 someday, if things go as planned. Then again, programs in the Army have a real problem getting all the way to mass service, as evidenced by the stillborn M10 Booker tank of recent note. (Okay, technically they were always correcting people to call it an ‘assault gun’, but now that it’s cancelled we can all admit it was spiritually a tank after all.) ‘The MV-75 has its path cleared for it, however: Army brass wants something with legs to replace its current fleet of transport helicopters, with a lot more range and speed. They envision the future battlefield will demand a lot more standoff distance from its transports, and they’ll need enough mobility to avoid destruction once they’re in range of the enemy.

So far there’s no word on a specific name for the MV-75 to bring it in line with the rest of the Army aircraft family, but it should be on theme along with the Blackhawk, Apache, Kiowa, and such whenever it’s selected. The first prototype will be the YMV-75A. MV is for “Multi-Mission Vertical Takeoff”, and “-75” is an arbitrary number that commemorates the Army’s founding year of 1775. It sounds cool, which is most of the job in the end, anyways, but it also commemorates the Army’s 250th birthday this year.

Bell is hoping to give the MV-75 enough room to grow over time, using a Modular Open Systems Approach in the FLRAA’s design, acquisition, and sustainment strategy. This is supposed to allow for “ faster fielding of threat-driven capabilities, while also promoting affordability and mission system commonality across platforms throughout the aircraft’s lifecycle.” That means the MV-75 will, just like the Blackhawk before it, end up with a few variants tailored for the mission over time, whether that’s medical evacuation, assault, or insertion.

“The Army is committed to delivering the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft. It will provide the speed, range and endurance needed to conduct air assault, MEDEVAC and resupply missions for future large-scale combat operations,” said Brigadier General David Phillips, program executive officer for aviation. “We’re all looking forward to seeing the incredible impact the MV-75 will have on the Soldiers of tomorrow.”

“This is an important milestone as we work toward delivering the next generation of tactical assault and utility aircraft,” said Col. Jeffrey Poquette, FLRAA project manager. “I’m incredibly proud of the entire team and our aviation enterprise partners, who continue to work tirelessly to ensure the Army delivers a transformational vertical lift capability that supports our modernization goals. We are excited to now have an official MDS designator for the FLRAA prototypes.”

FMI: www.bellflight.com