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January 26, 2006

Bell Helicopter’s Eagle Eye Vertical Lift Unmanned Aircraft System Achieves First Flight Milestone

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The Eagle Eye Unmanned Aircraft System performed a variety of maneuvers to verify its movement and response capabilities.

Bell Helicopter has announced that its TR918 Eagle Eye Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) lifted off the ground for the first time today and achieved the first flight milestone in this ground breaking, vertical-lift unmanned aircraft program.

At 8:54 a.m. (CST) the vehicle lifted vertically off the ground, hovered for nine minutes, executed various maneuvers to verify its movement and response capabilities, and then landed safely on the ground. The vehicle flew a second flight within 30 minutes of the maiden flight’s landing.

“This is a tremendous achievement for Bell Helicopter and our Team Eagle Eye partners,” said Mike Redenbaugh, chief executive officer of Bell Helicopter. “An immense amount of effort and dedication went into getting this aircraft in the air successfully.”

A Major Milestone

“Eagle Eye offers a capability never seen in the UAS industry,” Bob Ellithorpe, executive director of Bell’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems explained. “Customers like the Coast Guard Homeland Defenders will have much needed assistance in many critical missions, including saving lives. Reaching this first flight milestone puts us one step closer to getting this unmatched capability in the field,” Ellithorpe said.

This first flight of the TR918 comes on the heels of recently receiving a certificate of airworthiness for experimental flight-testing from the Federal Aviation Administration.

About the Eagle Eye

The UAS offers a “runwayless” solution for reconnaissance reporting in conditions too dangerous for human surveillance. With low manpower, space, and equipment requirements, the UAS increases battlefield flexibility without risking the lives of soldiers. Flight testing for the Eagle Eye will continue with Bell XworX in Ft. Worth.

“There is a lot of hard work ahead for the Eagle Eye development and testing team,” Ellithorpe said. “But, today we are going to celebrate this first flight achievement.”

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