Artist’s rendering of Bell’s X-plane concept for DARPA’s SPRINT program. Photo: Bell.
The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected Bell Textron to build an X-plane demonstrator capable of flying at speeds of up to 450 knots, with the office confirming to sister publication Defense Daily it aims to have a platform completed in 2027 to support flight testing in 2028.
Bell, which beat out Boeing’s Aurora Flight Sciences, noted that its work on Phase 2 of the Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) program will include completing design, construction, ground testing and certification of its vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) demonstrator.
“Bell is honored to have been selected for the next phase of DARPA’s SPRINT program and is excited to demonstrate a brand-new aircraft with the first-ever stop/fold technology,” Jason Hurst, Bell’s executive vice president of engineering, said in a statement. “This is an achievement we’ve been working toward for over 10 years, as we’ve leveraged our nearly 90-year history of X-plane development to bring new technology to our warfighters.”
Just over a year ago, DARPA announced it had selected Bell and Aurora Flight Sciences for Phase 1B of the SPRINT program to work on completing preliminary design reviews.
Both firms had previously been tapped for the initial phase of the program focused on conceptual design work, which at the time also included Northrop Grumman [NOC] and Piasecki Aircraft.
“The SPRINT X-plane is intended to be a proof-of-concept technology demonstrator and its flight test program seeks to validate enabling technologies and integrated concepts that can be scaled to different size military aircraft. The goal of the program is to provide these aircraft with the ability to cruise at speeds from 400 to 450 knots at relevant altitudes and hover in austere environments from unprepared surfaces,” DARPA has said previously.
DARPA has request $55.2 million in FY ‘26 for the SPRINT program, with a budget document detailing the interest in developing high-speed VTOL aircraft to support missions such as “infiltration/exfiltration, contested personnel recovery, troop transport, logistics support, and armed escort” and aiming to have a demonstrator that “reduces technical, schedule, and cost risk for a follow-on operational system.”
“In preparation for X-plane development, Bell has completed significant risk reduction activities including demonstrating folding rotor, integrated propulsion and flight control technologies at Holloman Air Force Base as well as wind tunnel testing at the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University,” Bell said in a statement on July 9.
Following the work in Phase 2 to finalize a critical design and then move into building and ground testing Bell’s X-Plane, DARPA noted that Phase 3 will include flight testing.
A version of this story originally appeared in affiliate publication Defense Daily.