UAV Bell Helicopter announces UAS partnership with NASA

The agreement with NASA includes the preparation for an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) flight demonstration during the National Airspace System (NAS) in 2020. It outlines the goal toward commercial UAS operations in the NAS.

Bell is working together with its strategic partners Textron Systems, Xwings and the University of Massachusetts Amhers´s Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA). Bell´s vehicle APT70, which is an Autonomous Pod Transport vehicle, will be the demonstrator. The APT70 includes integrates Control and Command (C2) systems, as well as Detect and Avoid (DAA) technologies.

Scott Drennan, Bell’s vice president of Innovation at Bell commented: “Bell is proud to continue the collaboration of new VTOL UAS technologies to drive a path toward UAS certification and commercialization [...] We believe the capabilities of our Autonomous Pod Transport, with the support from our team, will enable us to tackle key challenges facing commercial UAS operations today, leading to a successful demonstration.”

Textron Systems Vice President of Applied Technology & Advanced Programs Wayne Prender added: “C2 technologies can extend the capabilities of unmanned systems across platforms, domains and users. Having extensive experience in the unmanned industry for several decades, we look forward to bringing this perspective to such a highly capable team.”

Bell will lead development, production, design and system integration of APT70. Textron Systems will supply with command and control operations, while Xwing will provide the DAA technologies. CASA is needed for providing weather avoidance technology.

The APT70 utilizes and vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) configuration. The vehicle is capable of rotation and translation in flight, which maximizes its performance. The aircraft has a maximum payload capacity of 70 lbs (31,75kg) and can reach speeds of over 100mph (160 kph).

Bell hopes to collectively explore requirements of Unmanned Aircraft Systems for operations like medical, law enforcement / parapublic and offshore mission.