Bell Helicopters introduces the Invictus!

Gentleman,

It appears there is a "spiritual successor" to the RAH-66 Commanche - The Bell Model 360 aka Invictus!

The Invictus article on The Drive

Wow thanks for the info. What a beautiful helo.
Wondering if it will come to production or will again
thrown in the trash.

It does look like a upgraded version of RAH66 but again - not focused on a stealth as such. Well world is moving forward so will be interesting what comes up. Bit of a shame with RAH66 after all these years and it all went tits up

Well, indeed it may not be as focused on stealth as the Comanche was but that helicopter definitely has some built-in Stealth/Low-RCS features in it! Namely the Main Rotor being covered (like in the Comanche), the general shape of the airframe which clearly resembles the Comanche, the internal weapons carriage and the Comanche style Fenestron tail rotor seem IMO to clearly indicate that this is a Stealthy/Low RCS helicopter (even if less so than the Comanche) at least in the frontal sector/aspect.

Anyway, this seems to be a "cheaper Comanche", considering that it only has one (1) engine.



Yeah, I fully agree.

And also, thanks for the post. I really wasn't aware of this project until I read your post. Thanks again

Per the Army - its supposed to use the same 20mm cannon from the Comanche as well - although no specifics on if the gun can/will be internally stowed like the Comanche's in the eventual tested version...

-ORC

Also I think a conventional war machines can become a thing of the past (probably not soon enough) due to the fact that you can cripple the country by hacking all the systems (financial, defence, etc). without firing a single bullet. Also drones can do a lot of dirty work. Dont get me wrong, typical choppers, planes, tanks, etc. are still needed but requirements have changed a lot i think

Yes, that's a fact as well.





I don't think that "conventional war machines" will become a thing of the past, at least in the foreseeable future.
In the 1970's there were many who claimed that Missiles (such as Surface-to-Air missiles, Ballistic Missile, Cruise Missiles, etc...) would completely replace combat aircraft but several decades later we know that they didn't.

Regarding Drones, the problem is that they are, would and will be extremely vulnerable against any enemy equipped with modern/advanced Air Defense Systems.
So far Drones have been very successful because they have been used against enemies that either don't have Air Defense Systems (Taliban, ISIS, etc...) or occasionally against incompetent, ill equipped in terms of Air Defense Systems and unsuspected forces (Saudi Arabia).

The Apache been around for a long time. I am surprised it hasn't been replaced yet. I like the Viper but why only a handful were produced for the Marines.

Is just me, or it look like a soon between the Comanche and the Bell LHX?

No, it's not just you.

Same thought I had when I saw it.

They should never have cancelled the Comanche.

UPDATE:

10/14/2020

Bell to start building 360 Invictus prototype next week for FARA programme.

Full story:

https://www.flightglobal.com/helico...t-week-for-fara-programme/140612.article

Further Info:

https://www.bellflight.com/products/bell-360

-ORC

I wonder if it has any future.
In the era of drones that do a total demolition on the ground, investing hundreds of millions in a new helicopter? It will end up like a comanche.