Bell completes first two MV-75 Cheyenne II wing structures for test aircraft

Bell has completed the assembly of the first two wing structures for the MV-75 Cheyenne II, the tiltrotor selected to replace a large share of the US Army’s UH-60 Black Hawk fleet, the company announced on June 11, 2026. The wings will be integrated into the first two MV-75 test aircraft. 

Bell won the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program in December 2022 with an initial $1.3 billion development contract, beating the Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant. 

90% fewer labor hours than the first V-22 wing 

On a tiltrotor, the wing carries the rotating nacelles and serves as the structural backbone of the aircraft. Bell manufactures all key components in-house, including the composite wing skins and spars, as well as the tailored aluminum substructure. 

According to the company, the first MV-75 wing, completed in February 2026, required 90% fewer labor hours than the first V-22 Osprey wing Bell to have been built. The second wing was assembled with a further 40% reduction, which Bell has presented as evidence of the program’s focus on affordability and production readiness. 

The first two MV-75 Cheyenne II wing structures (Credit: Bell)

Culley Shafer, Bell’s director of operations in Amarillo, Texas, claimed that, after decades of building V-22 wings, “we’ve learned new ways to do things better, faster and smarter” by feeding those lessons into the MV-75 design from the outset. 

With both structures complete, Bell teams are now installing system provisions into the wings. The next phase of assembly will see them joined with the fuselage, currently taking shape at the company’s Wichita Assembly Center in Kansas which opened in April 2026, as well as with the nacelles. 

FLRAA accelerates toward flight testing 

The wing announcement caps a busy stretch for the program. Rolls-Royce began ground testing the MV-75’s AE 1107F engines in December 2025; the US Army formally named the aircraft Cheyenne II in April 2026; and Bell signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea Aerospace Industries during the same month to research a potential version of the aircraft for South Korea. 

Earlier in June 2026, Bell confirmed that it is cutting 285 jobs, a move that the company has tied to the program’s transition from development toward production. 

Limited user testing of the MV-75 is planned for 2027 and 2028, with the first aircraft expected to be fielded with the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, around 2030. The post Bell completes first two MV-75 Cheyenne II wing structures for test aircraft appeared first on AeroTime.

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