Bell carries out flight of APT 70 UAV

29th August 2019 - 08:30 GMT | by Shephard News Team

RSS

Bell has conducted the first flight of its Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) 70 vehicle at its testing site near Fort Worth, Texas.

APT 70 is part of the eVTOL family of vehicles Bell is developing, and the company plans to continue testing the unmanned aerial vehicle under an experimental type certificate over the remainder of the year.

It is capable of reaching speeds of in excess of 100mph with a minimum payload capacity of 70lbs, and Bell says that APT allows for flexible missions while keeping operations simple, efficient and fast.

It is capable of flying at twice the speed and range of a conventional multi-rotor aircraft, and is designed for quick deployment, reconfiguration and battery swap and recharge.

‘We are excited to reach this milestone, and look forward to continuing to advance this technology for our customers,’ Scott Drennan, vice president of innovation at Bell, said.

‘The APT is designed to be capable of various mission sets, from package delivery to critical medical transport to disaster relief. We believe this capability will change the way unmanned aerial systems are used commercially in the future.’

Through the NASA Systems Integration and Operationalization demonstration programme, Bell will use the APT 70 to demonstrate a simulated commercial mission in the national airspace and conduct beyond-visual-line-of-sight flights, and this demonstration is expected to take place in mid-2020.

Bell is also collaborating with Yamato, a Japanese third-party logistics provider, to integrate the latter’s package handling system into the APT 70.

Bell and Yamato conducted a test in August demonstrating how their respective systems work together, in preparation for entry to service that is anticipated for the early 2020s.

Author

Shephard News Team

As part of our promise to deliver comprehensive coverage to Premium News and Defence Insight …

Read full bio

More from Uncrewed Vehicles

Jammer resistant drone designs spark search for countermeasures

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has driven another stage of evolution for drones and the counter measures to defend against them.
L3Harris launches Amorphous software for control of uncrewed platforms

The new Amorphous software is a universal controller that would allow a single operator to control a swarm of “thousands” of uncrewed systems, from drones to underwater platforms.
ideaForge unveils new UAVs at Aero India 2025

India UAV supplier ideaForge has launched the Netra 5 and Switch V2 drones at Aero India 2025, boasting of enhanced endurance, AI-driven autonomy and improved operational capabilities.
Shaping the future of defence: What 2025 holds for the global drone market

The UAV market is experiencing unprecedented growth, with innovations in technology and battlefield applications driving demand across military sectors. From the battlefields of Ukraine to NATO exercises and beyond, drones are transforming how wars are fought and supported.
Maris-Tech confirms customers signing up for Jupiter Drones codec and AI-powered system

Launched at AUSA in October, the company’s multi-stream video codec is attempting to bring a new lease of life to drone technology through its AI accelerator.
AUSA 2024: Quantum-Systems targets big 2025 with UAS developments

Quantum-Systems has been upgrading its UAS family, with new versions of the Vector, Reliant and Twister drones set for release throughout 2025.