Bell carries out flight of APT 70 UAV
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.
You may also like
More from Uncrewed Vehicles
-
![What's next for the Pentagon after the Replicator programme?]()
What's next for the Pentagon after the Replicator programme?
Although the Replicator initiative has made several accomplishments, there are still multiple gaps to plug across the US Department of Defense (DoD) and its services.
-
![Cummings Aerospace showcases Hellhound loitering munition designed for US Army’s LASSO programme (video)]()
Cummings Aerospace showcases Hellhound loitering munition designed for US Army’s LASSO programme (video)
Cummings Aerospace presented its turbojet-powered Hellhound loitering munition at SOF Week 2025, offering a man-portable solution aligned with the US Army’s LASSO requirements.
-
![SOF Week 2025: PDW unveils attritable FPV drone for SOF operations at scale]()
SOF Week 2025: PDW unveils attritable FPV drone for SOF operations at scale
PDW has revealed its Attritable Multirotor First Person View drone at SOF Week 2025, offering special operations forces a low-cost, rapidly deployable platform for strike and ISR missions, inspired by battlefield lessons from Ukraine.
-
![SOF Week 2025: Teledyne FLIR white paper provides guidance on reusable loitering munitions]()
SOF Week 2025: Teledyne FLIR white paper provides guidance on reusable loitering munitions
Teledyne FLIR is highlighting the emerging requirements for 'recoverable and re-usable' loitering munitions across the contemporary operating environment during this week’s SOF Week conference in Tampa, Florida.
-
![SOF Week 2025: Kraken Technology group debuts K3 Scout USV in North America]()
SOF Week 2025: Kraken Technology group debuts K3 Scout USV in North America
High-performance maritime industry player Kraken Technology Group, based in the UK, has used the SOF Week conference in Tampa, Florida this week to debut its K3 Scout uncrewed surface vessel (USV) to the North American market.
-
![Palladyne AI and Red Cat to demonstrate capabilities for autonomous drone swarms to the US military]()
Palladyne AI and Red Cat to demonstrate capabilities for autonomous drone swarms to the US military
Red Cat and Palladyne AI recently conducted a cross-platform collaborative flight involving three diverse heterogeneous drones.
