Officials have unveiled a built-to-scale model of a futuristic tilt-rotor drone that they hope meets the need for massive firepower and intelligence that Marines want to have their back or as their wingman in a fight.
The Bell V-247 Vigilant is an unmanned, armed escort that, if demonstrations prove out, could be the hub of both delivering its own payload or coordinating fires from air, land, sea, space, cyber and electronic warfare nodes.
And if you fold the wings, it fits in all the spaces a V-22 Osprey does with room to spare. It even takes up less room than a UH-1Y helicopter.
Bell is looking to meet the needs of the Marine Air Ground Task Force Unmanned Expeditionary drone, or MUX.
Marines want the MUX to do it all, but to start with: airborne early warning, command and control communications, digitally passing information, intelligence and reconnaissance and electronic warfare.\