The Army’s Next Attack Helicopter Could Look Like This

After spending much of the past decade almost exclusively building and developing tiltrotor aircraft for the U.S. military, Bell is returning to its roots, pitching the U.S. Army a traditional helicopter for attack and reconnaissance missions.

The Textron company on Tuesday unveiled the Bell 360 Invictus, with a sporty-looking, new design that executives say is based on existing commercial technology, keeping it cheap to fly and maintain.

“If you need … and can afford a Corvette, do you go buy a Ferrari,” Jeffrey Schloesser, executive Bell’s vice president of strategic pursuits, said during a briefing in Arlington, Virginia. “This is not a truck. This is a high-speed, agile aircraft at an affordable price that meets all the requirements from the U.S. Army.”

Bell is one of five teams building prototypes for the Army, which wants to replace the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter it retired in 2014. The Army is calling its next-gen helicopter the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft, or FARA.

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