Design of the Bell Eagle Eye is not unlike that of the larger manned Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor transport helicopter. The Eagle Eye features a centralized fuselage containing the major electronic and digital components that bring life to the system as well as manage the main powerplant. Straight wings are affixed to the fuselage and each maintain a single rotor system via drive shafts from the coupled transmission system. There is a noticeable air intake scoop mounted to the top of the fuselage and the fuselage itself tapers off into the empennage. The tail section features horizontal stabilizer planes to either side and each mounts an inclined vertical tail fin. The undercarriage is made up of two double-tired main landing gear legs, one fitted as a nose leg and the other as a fuselage leg. There is a pair of smallish outboard landing gear legs fitted to the rear of each rotor nacelle and come into play when the nacelles are in the fixed upward angle during landing/takeoff. The payload capacity of the Eagle Eye is a reported 200lbs and can be utilized for reconnaissance, surveillance, Electronic Warfare (EW) and armament loads as a given sortie requires.
If the developmental HV-911 is taken as the final production form, it could feature the aforementioned Pratt & Whitney Canada PW207D series turboshaft engine. This powerplant will deliver up to 641 horsepower to the pair of outboard tilt-rotor assemblies mounted to each wingtip. Each rotor assembly spins a three-bladed rotor system. Based on the evaluation test results, the Eagle Eye will feature a maximum speed of up to 225 miles per hour with a service ceiling of roughly 20,000 feet. Endurance from the single engine will be roughly six hours - an excellent advantage when considering the loitering nature of battlefield UAVs or Search and Rescue (SAR) airborne elements.
Though American procurement of the Eagle Eye has stymied, there has been more interest developed by foreign powers overseas. Bell has teamed up with the German firm of Rheinmetall Defense Electronics and the French firm of Sagem to possibly bring the Eagle Eye to operational service in European inventories. This arrangement is such that - assuming they blossom - the European bureaus will be able to assign whatever payload is needed for their particular Eagle Eye airframe. Bell will simply be responsible for construction and delivery of the machine airframes, engines and avionics systems themselves. Such is the flexibility inherent in the Eagle Eye design.
Per Bell, the Eagle Eye is "the most versatile UAS on the market".
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