Bell V-247 armed Tiltrotor drone for the Marines

It's quite unique for a drone to lift so much. And it's the fastest!
I am not even sure that among the thousands Startups claiming to do vertical cargo delivery there is more than a couple dreaming of such numbers.
 
Bell has been working on TR UAS for better part of a decade, if not longer. At one point I think they had a AW 609 based TR UAS that they tested the waters with. I do agree that the numbers are, at best, a stretch goal.
 
DARPA rotorcraft efforts rarely get past the good idea phase. Those that do even more rarely make it to production.
 
V247 and 360 Invictus for the USMC, Bell is doing something right with these platforms, evolves capabilities.
 
360 Invictus is dead. The primary customer declined to move forward with the program. USMC has deferred on the V-247 as well.

An unfortunate turn for both programs, although the V-247 could find a customer.
 
Hydroman said:
V247 and 360 Invictus for the USMC, Bell is doing something right with these platforms, evolves capabilities.
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That was always unlikely, the Marines have wanted an escort that is at least as fast as the Osprey.

And I'm not sure I see the Marines buying an unmanned replacement for the Cobras. But as a compact-folding logistics mover and assistant to the attack V-280? Oh, heck yes!



CammNut said:
According to Tobin, the engine output drive goes up though the wing pivot to the main gearbox in the center wing. Obviously, therefore, the gearbox and drive shafts pivot with the wing while the engine stays fixed
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Huh. Guess that's simpler than rigging the fuel lines to move and have the engine in the chunk that is pivoting on the airframe. 90deg gearbox on the engine, stub shaft up to the transmission that sits in a nice bearing at the rotation point, transmission in the pivoting section...



TomS said:
They have talked about it using a VR display to see the video from a distributed camera system on the aircraft, so that the operator can look anywhere outside the airframe.

https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/ne...e-that-marines-could-choose-as-their-wingman/
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A VR/HMD makes the most sense for anything using DAS.
 
Scott Kenny said:
A VR/HMD makes the most sense for anything using DAS.
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This is certainly technically viable. However, the evils "bandwidth" and "distance" make it much more of a challenge. Full motion video streams take up (probably not the right words) considerable bandwidth continuously. The longer the distance the more power is needed to get the picture and commands to/from the aircraft from the operator. Given the ever increasing electronic warfare capabilities of all belligerents this could become problematic. The U.S. has begun moving away from full motion video data.
I have no doubt there any number of technical companies and scholastic institutions working to overcome this challenge, but to my knowledge they have not achieved totally viable results yet.
Some would argue we are getting to the point where unmanned platforms are capable of receiving data packet commands and executing the mission without further human intervention. This may, or may not, remain viable in the age of tactical quantum computing linked to AI.
 
yasotay said:
This is certainly technically viable. However, the evils "bandwidth" and "distance" make it much more of a challenge. Full motion video streams take up (probably not the right words) considerable bandwidth continuously. The longer the distance the more power is needed to get the picture and commands to/from the aircraft from the operator. Given the ever increasing electronic warfare capabilities of all belligerents this could become problematic. The U.S. has begun moving away from full motion video data.
I have no doubt there any number of technical companies and scholastic institutions working to overcome this challenge, but to my knowledge they have not achieved totally viable results yet.
Some would argue we are getting to the point where unmanned platforms are capable of receiving data packet commands and executing the mission without further human intervention. This may, or may not, remain viable in the age of tactical quantum computing linked to AI.
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Given what we've seen in the SpaceX Starship flights I wonder how Starlink (Starshield) changes things.
 
yasotay said:
This is certainly technically viable. However, the evils "bandwidth" and "distance" make it much more of a challenge. Full motion video streams take up (probably not the right words) considerable bandwidth continuously. The longer the distance the more power is needed to get the picture and commands to/from the aircraft from the operator. Given the ever increasing electronic warfare capabilities of all belligerents this could become problematic. The U.S. has begun moving away from full motion video data.
I have no doubt there any number of technical companies and scholastic institutions working to overcome this challenge, but to my knowledge they have not achieved totally viable results yet.
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My first assumption would be to limit the total sent video to just that of the current view, plus however far to the sides of the current view signal lag takes.

Still a lot of video to deal with, but that cuts it down from 360x360 to probably 40x40 or maybe 60x60 if the lag is bad (assuming a ~20x20 degree field of view in the HMD).

I also remember hearing about some weird uses of COTS graphics cards, running them in reverse with a video signal input to create an easily compressible and encryptable signal that was used for secure video conferencing.



yasotay said:
Some would argue we are getting to the point where unmanned platforms are capable of receiving data packet commands and executing the mission without further human intervention. This may, or may not, remain viable in the age of tactical quantum computing linked to AI.
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That was demonstrated in a ground attack by LockMart 20 years ago when I was still in the Navy. And I believe in 2020ish in a dogfight.

My goal for AI wingman is to limit things to a small number of commands, maybe a dozen: "Weapons tight/free," "attack my target," "attack what I am not attacking," "attack this (ground) target," "defend me," "defend other," "destroy everything in this area," "reform on me," "RTB (without me)," maybe a couple more...

"Attack this ground target" comes with an assumed command of "deal with any defenses around it and targeting you as needed," and the single or group of CCAs then decide who is hitting what targets on their own.
 

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