Aircraft
U.S. Army Taps Bell, Sikorsky-Boeing For JMR Next Phase
Sikorsky and Boeing will advance the SB-1 Defiant; Bell’s proposal is the V-280 Valor tiltrotor.
The Sikorsky-Boeing proposal is a compound helicopter design called the SB-1 Defiant. (Image: Sikorsky Aircraft)
The Sikorsky-Boeing proposal is a compound helicopter design called the SB-1 Defiant. (Image: Sikorsky Aircraft)

Bell Helicopter and the team of Sikorsky Aircraft and Boeing will build rotorcraft demonstrators for the U.S. Army’s joint multi-role technology demonstration (JMR TD), which calls for flights to begin in 2017. Two other companies the Army awarded technology investment agreements in October—AVX Aircraft and Karem Aircraft—did not make the cut to build flying demonstrators.