Bell Opens Advanced Vertical Lift Center

Bell is officially opening its new Advanced Vertical Lift Center (AVLC) today near the Pentagon in Crystal City, Virginia. The AVLC will provide an interactive experience for the company’s military customers, partners, and policymakers to interact with future vertical lift (FVL) technology, including that aboard Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor as well as unmanned systems. “We are committed to delivering overmatch capabilities to our military,” said Bell CEO Mitch Snyder.

The facility houses a V-280 flight simulator, a mission table that demonstrates an interactive and visual representation of inserting the V-280 into battlespace, an augmented reality demonstration that shows how Bell’s digital thread technology affects design, build, and sustainment by bringing hands-on training and maintenance support to remote locations, and an immersive virtual reality experience with the V-280.

“We are committed to helping our customers regain dominance in vertical lift, and the AVLC is an opportunity for our team to show real solutions for pressing challenges using the power of flight,” said Jeff Schloesser, executive vice president for strategic pursuits at Bell. “We have to create and sustainably deliver new capabilities, such as the V-280, for warfighters to have operational overmatch. We intend for this office to support our nation’s military modernization.”