Based in London, Tony covers European defense programs. Prior to joining Aviation Week in November 2012, Tony was at Shephard Media Group where he was deputy editor for Rotorhub and Defence Helicopter magazines. Tony has covered avionics, unmanned vehicles, the supply chain and cyberwarfare.
Tony Osborne (London), Graham Warwick (Washington)
Bell Helicopters is playing the speed card with a third-generation tiltrotor to meet the requirements for the U.S. Army's Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program. While its competitors look to hybrid, compound helicopters to meet the Army's need to fly at 230 kt. and still perform like a normal helicopter, Bell is gambling that increased speed and higher productivity on the battlefield will become the critical capabilities the service will be seeking in the coming years.
After more than decade planning it, seven years trying to achieve it and one failed attempt to do it, U.K. government officials have finally sealed a deal to harmonize the country's multiple search and rescue (SAR) helicopter operations under one agency.
