The U.S. Army has signed a record 40-year contract to produce Bell V-280 Valor helicopters to replace Black Hawk and Apache helicopters

The U.S. Army is preparing to replace Black Hawk and Apache helicopters with the V-280 Valor. For this purpose the biggest contract for the last 40 years was signed.

Here's What We Know

The manufacturer of the V-280 Valor is the American company Bell Textron. The contract amount was $1.3 billion. Additionally, $7 billion will be invested in the engineering process and the launch of low-speed production.

If all requirements are met, the lifetime cost of the program will be $70 billion. Bell beat out two rivals for the contract - Sikorsky and Boeing with their joint development of the Defiant X.

The V-280 Valor is a convertiplane being developed as part of the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator program. It made its maiden flight in 2017. The maximum cruising speed of the aircraft is 520 km/h. The new convertiplane will replace the 2,000 Black Hawk and 1,200 Apache helicopters by 2030.

Source: Defense News