Tag Archives: NASA
Bell Completes U.S. MARINE CORPS Ah-1Z Program of Record
Bell Completes U.S. MARINE CORPS Ah-1Z Program of Record
Completes United States Military program of record for H-1 Helicopters
A U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469 fires at a target during Resolute Dragon 22 at Yausubetsu Maneuver Area, Hokkaido, Japan, Oct. 6, 2022. Resolute Dragon 22 is an annual bilateral exercise designed to strengthen the defensive capabilities of the U.S.-Japan Alliance by exercising integrated command and control, targeting, combined arms, and maneuver across multiple domains. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Lorenzo Ducato)
Middle East (Nov. 03, 2022) – In a ceremony at the Amarillo Assembly Center, Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, celebrated the delivery of the 189th AH-1Z Viper to the U.S. Marine Corps, completing the Program of Record (POR) for the latest version of the storied H-1 platform. Bell completed the UH-1Y POR of 160 aircraft in 2018 bringing the combined H-1 POR to 349 aircraft.
“The first production lot of US Marine Corps H-1s was ordered in 1962, and they changed the way Marines fight today,” said Mike Deslatte, Bell H-1 vice president and program director. “Completing the AH-1Z and UH-1Y deliveries to the US Marine Corps adds one more chapter to the legacy of the H-1 platform.”
Bell has been producing H-1s for the U.S. military since 1959. Bell originally designed the H-1 for the U.S. Army with the iconic “Huey.” In 1966 Bell created the AH-1 Cobra as the first dedicated gunship. In 1970, the Bell UH-1N brought twin engine capabilities to more than 28 countries, and in 1984 the AH-1W provided the U.S. Marine Corps increased attack helicopter capability.
The current generation AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom are the most agile, mobile, and survivable combination of aircraft used by the Department of Defense. The 85% common platforms are the only two aircraft that share so much commonality, providing the Marines with logistical agility and reduced operating costs. The AH-1Z achieved initial operating capacity in February 2011 and the UH-1Y achieved initial operating capacity in August 2008. The first combined Viper/Venom deployment with a Marine Expeditionary Unit occurred in 2009.
“H-1s are key to the 2022 Marine Corps Aviation Plan,” said Col. Vasillios Pappas, Light/Attack Helicopters program manager (PMA-276). “With the US program of record now complete, the Marines have the flexibility to manage and deploy the helicopters based on current and future mission requirements as established at the start of the program.”
The H-1 production line is still active in support of foreign military sales to approved U.S. allies. Bell continues to produce AH-1Z Vipers for the Kingdom of Bahrain and will manufacture eight UH-1Ys and four AH-1Zs for the Czech Republic in 2023.
Since the first delivery of the AH-1Zs and UH-1Ys to the U.S. Marines, the H-1 mixed fleet has accumulated more than 450,000 flight hours through a full spectrum of military operations. Bell will continue to support the U.S. H-1s with lethality, survivability, and reliability upgrades through a long-term modernization plan that helps ensure the aircraft keep an overwhelming tactical advantage for generations.
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About Bell
Thinking above and beyond is what we do. For more than 85 years, we’ve been reimagining the experience of flight – and where it can take us.
We are pioneers. We were the first to break the sound barrier and to certify a commercial helicopter. We were aboard NASA’s first lunar mission and brought advanced tiltrotor systems to market. Today, we’re defining the future of advanced air mobility.
Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas – as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Textron Inc., – we have strategic locations around the globe. And with nearly one quarter of our workforce having served, helping our military achieve their missions is a passion of ours.
Above all, our breakthrough innovations deliver exceptional experiences to our customers. Efficiently. Reliably. And always, with safety at the forefront.
About Textron Inc.
Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Arctic Cat, Textron Systems, and TRU Simulation + Training. For more information, visit: www.textron.com.
Certain statements in this press release may project revenues or describe strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; these forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update them. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to risk factors related to U.S. government contracts and foreign military sales as described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Bell APT 70 Successfully Completes NASA’s Systems Integration and
Fort Worth, Texas (1 October, 2020) – Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced today the successful flight of the Bell Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) 70 as part of a joint
flight demonstration with NASA. Bell was selected to participate in NASA’s Systems Integration and Operationalization (SIO) activity in 2018, which includes multiple flight demonstrations focusing on
different types of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and their flight environments.
The objective of Bell’s SIO demonstration was to execute a Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) mission in an urban environment transitioning into and out of Class B airspace representing future commercial
flights. Mission results will be used to evaluate and demonstrate Detect and Avoid (DAA) and Command and Control (C2) technologies for use in future certified operations in controlled and uncontrolled
airspace. Data collected during the demonstration will be used to support future standards development and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification guidelines.
“This successful demonstration highlights the great potential for the APT 70 to complete complex
missions for businesses and healthcare providers,” said Michael Thacker, executive vice president,
Innovation and Commercial Business. “With teammates like NASA, we can carve a path forward for future commercial operations to solve the cargo and goods transportation challenges our world currently faces.”
Launching from Bell’s Floyd Carlson field in Fort Worth, TX, the APT 70 flew a preprogrammed 10-mile circuit path along the Trinity River. Once armed from the ground control station, the APT 70 initiated a
vertical takeoff.
The vehicle then rotated to fly on its wings where it became nearly silent to the ground below. The vehicle executed its mission profile at an altitude of 500 feet above ground level. The route
included a road crossing and transition in and out of Class B airspace. Communication between the ground station and the aircraft was maintained through a redundant datalink. A prototype airborne detect
and avoid system, along with visual observers, provided the remote pilot with awareness of air traffic in
the vicinity and recommended flight maneuvers.
NASA is excited to partner with Bell to help accelerate routine UAS operations into the national airspace
with this successful flight demo,” said Mauricio Rivas, UAS integration in the NAS project manager at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center. “Our efforts with Bell and our other SIO industry partners will
help commercial UAS move closer towards certification to make missions like this transport flight a
common event.”
Bell’s technology partners for the demonstration include Xwing and the University of Massachusetts
Amherst’s Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA). Integrated onto the APT
70 is Xwing’s airborne, multi-sensing detect and avoid system. Xwing’s system comprises of radars, ADS- B, visual system and onboard processing to provide aircraft tracks and pilot alerts transmitted to the
ground station. The APT 70 also includes CASA’s intuitive, integrated display to provide pilots with local weather risk awareness and route-based weather alerts issued by their City Warn Hazard Notification
System deployed in the DFW metroplex.
It is envisioned that in the future, an operational APT 70 could provide efficient, rapid and dependable transport for payloads up to 70lbs. The APT 70 is estimated to move three times as fast as ground transportation. The vehicle is capable of autonomous flight, automatically flying a programmed flight route and handling an array of contingency functions. Potential uses for the APT 70 include medical deliveries,
third-party logistics, offshore delivery, humanitarian relief and many more.
When NASA sent A U2 Spy plane to South Africa!
Pietersburg now known as Polokwane in the Limpopo Province, An advance team from the American space agency NASA and the first of seven research planes arrived at the Pietersburg International Airport in preparation for the SAFARI 2000 science initiative to monitor the earth’s environment and atmosphere.
Airport corporate relations the then manager Howard Khosa said the Washington University Convair 580 transport plane that arrived, is expected to be joined by two more hi-tech research planes on that week the aircraft took part in the survey and the famous cold war U2 spy plane,was also part of the survey fleet of aircraft.
The NASA U2 Spy planes also made a series of low level passes at the then DEXSA International Airshow at Waterkloof in that very same year of 2000.
Safari 2000 used the U2, officially the ER2 high-altitude surveillance aircraft, as its main tool to monitor the relationships between antopogenic (the influence of topography on atmospheric conditions), physical and biological processes that create the land and atmospheric systems of the sub-continent.
The study is intended to set international scientific standards for measuring atmospheric pollution, global warming and ecological processes and will include the ecology of the Kruger National Park and cloud physics off the Namibian coast.
The NASA programme is was Pietersburg’s first big commercial project since the airport was commercialised in a 50-year, R5-billion concession to a Malaysian consortium.
There was also a C-141B Starlifter as additional support aircraft. But it and the KC-135R returned to the States the following day.