13 years after they ended their collaboration on then-emerging technology, Bell and Leonardo are now collaborating on tiltrotor helicopters.
According to a statement released on Thursday, American and Italian businesses have inked a memorandum of understanding to assess potential areas of cooperation in the tiltrotor technology space.
With the help of Textron's Bell, Leonardo will spearhead a tiltrotor architecture proposal for a NATO Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability Concept Study, marking the official start of this collaboration, according to the companies.
With this agreement, the companies will continue their long-standing cooperation on the BA609 tiltrotor program, which came to an end in 2011 when Bell withdrew, leaving Leonardo, then known as Finmeccanica, to continue the project.
Bell's V-280 tiltrotor helped it win the U.S. Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft program in 2022, but Leonardo has stuck with the BA609, which is now called the AW609, even though development is progressing slowly. A lack of government funding for development has been mentioned by officials as the cause.
Leonardo officials were less than thrilled when the Italian Air Force encouraged them to collaborate with Lockheed Martin and Boeing on their Defiant-X coaxial rotor helicopter, as they had set a 2025 certification target for their tiltrotor.
Bell's tiltrotor defeated the Defiant in the FLRAA competition, and Leonardo officials felt justified in continuing to use tiltrotor technology.
Roberto Cingolani, the CEO of Leonardo, stated on Thursday that his company is currently the only one in Europe with a tiltrotor that is almost certified for use in civil applications but has the potential to be used in military applications.
