Slater Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Bell's candidate for the US Army's "Future Attack Recon Aircraft'". Even if it doesn't win the contract, it still looks pretty good. Reminds me of an update Comanche: https://www.bellflight.com/products/bell-360 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spruecutter96 Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Good to see that they are recycling the Comanche design. The US Army will need something to replace the Apache, once their current fleet starts falling apart. Chris. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calum Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Better looking than the Comanche although you can see the resemblance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiskey Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 My dad worked on the Comanche project at the Pentagon in the mid-90's. Will be very interesting to see how far this actually goes and what they've done to make it more contemporary indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 Apparently it’s a low cost design that’s not low-observable. No relationship to Sikorsky’s Comanche as this is by Bell. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 Yep. Think of it as a OH-58-style light attack and scout/FAC aircraft rather than an Apache/Comanche replacement. 3 hours ago, GMK said: Apparently it’s a low cost design that’s not low-observable. No relationship to Sikorsky’s Comanche as this is by Bell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiskey Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 7 hours ago, Alan P said: Yep. Think of it as a OH-58-style light attack and scout/FAC aircraft rather than an Apache/Comanche replacement. Too big to and way off the mark for an OH-58- style airframe. Think more of a medium category. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/30136/no-bells-invictus-armed-scout-helicopter-isnt-stealth-but-it-aims-to-be-fast-and-cheap There's a lot I've read about this concept so far out of what's available for the moment and I'm still trying to get down all of my thoughts for it. For now however the thing I would consider the most is a) survivability, i.e. small-medium arms damage, b) maneuverability, and c) noise. And that's just the aircraft itself, not considering the budget availability as of yet. The problem with the US Army (primarily however all the services are guilty of it, looking at you USAF.) is that they try to reinvent the wheel everytime there's a new requirement produced. Since budget is going to be a concern for future procurements why not use what's available oof the shelf like an updated MH/AH-6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5054nz Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 On 10/3/2019 at 8:09 PM, Alan P said: Yep. Think of it as a OH-58-style light attack and scout/FAC aircraft rather than an Apache/Comanche replacement. The Comanche was meant to replace the OH-58. Reconnaissance/Attack - RAH-66 I see the resemblance to the Comanche but that was a Boeing-Sikorsky design, I doubt the Invictus is related! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 (edited) On 10/11/2019 at 10:23 AM, k5054nz said: The Comanche was meant to replace the OH-58. Reconnaissance/Attack - RAH-66 I see the resemblance to the Comanche but that was a Boeing-Sikorsky design, I doubt the Invictus is related! True but it's not in the same league as the Comanche either financially or in capability. Alan Edited December 14, 2019 by Alan P 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Had an opportunity to look at the mockup last week - very much OH-58 size (or Long Ranger, perhaps). 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiskey Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 I like it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc72 Posted December 13, 2019 Share Posted December 13, 2019 This looks like a fairly conventionell design compared to the competitors. It has no coaxial rotors and pusher propeller or tiltrotor. Probably a good idea to choose a low-risk, low-cost approach. It's noteworthy that several attempts to replace the OH-58 have failed in the past. In the end, one might wonder if the scout role will be completely taken over by UAVs soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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