The full text of this article is available below and on the National Security Journal website here.

Key Points and Summary – The U.S. Army is accelerating its new MV-75 tiltrotor program, a long-range assault aircraft that is “twice as far, twice as fast” as the Black Hawk.

-While its performance is a leap forward, its most revolutionary feature is its “digital backbone.”

-The MV-75 is the first military aircraft designed from the ground up with a modular open systems architecture using Time Sensitive Networking (TSN).

-This approach, borrowed from the auto industry, allows for rapid, “plug and play” upgrades, avoids vendor lock, and ensures the platform can be easily modernized for decades to come.

The MV-75 Is Coming 

The Army needs the operational agility of the MV-75 for the Pacific, but multidomain success for Soldiers also depends on the digital backbone of next-generation systems.

China’s tactics in the Pacific lean on a number of different elements, from gray-zone operations to missile threats. The U.S. Army is countering with a strategy for operational agility that could deter China in both low-intensity conflicts and all-out wars.

Speeding up the arrival of the future MV-75 long-range assault aircraft is a key part of the U.S. strategy. The Army is accelerating both the testing and production schedule for the program. It is “the most modern, transformational, game-changing aircraft that the Army has ever seen,” MV-75 program manager Col. Jeffrey Poquette said in a recent video.

A Revolutionary New Tiltrotor

The future MV-75 tiltrotor’s greatest promise is in its flight performance. The MV-75 will have an unrefueled range of 1,700 miles and a performance speed of 322 miles per hour, versus 174 mph for the Black Hawk. “Twice as far, twice as fast,” is the motto for the platform, which the Army wants to see in the field two years ahead of the original plan.

“It delivers operational reach that alters how we close with the enemy,” Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Mingus said.

But “closing with the enemy” in the digital age also demands a whole new approach to data.

“The battlefield is changing as fast as the technology in your pocket,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said.

The Next Generation of Data Transmission

Open architectures—in which new software, systems and devices “plug and play” without infringing on the flight controls—are the path forward. Modular open architectures are being adopted by many defense programs, but the MV-75’s incorporation of Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) standards takes the concept a step further.

Take the example of cars with advanced driver systems. TSN is commonly used in the automotive industry for sensors, cameras, radar, and onboard computers that move data back and forth on a network in the vehicle. With TSN, standards and deterministic networking allow efficient, timely, and reliable transmission of prioritized data. Car manufacturers build systems in which software and hardware are designed for the long haul “and high-performance computers are exchangeable and upgradeable later in the vehicle life,” explained one industry expert.

This is exactly what the Army wants.

The MV-75 is the first defense program “born with modular open systems architectures,” as Bell President and CEO Lisa Atherton described it. “It is a game-changer in how they will be able to evolve new capabilities into the platform in the coming decades,” she said.

TSN standards in the digital backbone for the MV-75 promise to save both time and money. To start, they free the Army from vendor lock. “Our backbone makes the upgrade path much simpler,” explained GE Aerospace’s Larry Martin. “It puts the U.S. Army in control to go to any supplier they want and to get whatever capability they need and retain their independence.”

Bell Textron termed it a “vendor-agnostic” path forward for the Army.

The automotive industry has also found that TSN ethernet solutions are far less expensive than proprietary solutions. As with automobiles, linking at the data layer enables many types of features from different industry sources to work seamlessly on the MV-75’s digital backbone.

Real-Time Command and Control

The process should go much faster with a mandate for common interfaces. “If we get a new radio, we’ll be able to plug it in and get it working without having to go through all the testing and airworthiness that we otherwise have to do with our legacy fleet,” Poquette explained.

Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll wants command and control to occur in real time. For the soldiers, “a lot of tools they are seeing in their home life should apply to the Army as a warfighting function,” he has said.

In fact, the progress of the MV-75 is already being tracked by app. “I can take my phone out right now and look at the design and see where we are. … that’s powerful,” said Poquette.

Of course, tiltrotors are new to the Army fleet. Consequently, the Army is “in talks with the Marine Corps to embed Army pilots” and crew members to gain tiltrotor experience, Army Brig. Gen. Matt Braman said at the Paris Air Show in June.

The first MV-75s will go to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky—the experts on large-scale, long-range, air assault operations—according to Brig. Gen. Travis McIntosh, the division’s deputy commanding general for support.

All these preparations ultimately focus on the Army’s ability to project combat power in the vast Pacific theater. U.S. Army Pacific is the largest theater army, with more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians committed from the Arctic to the Pacific islands.

Army initiatives west of the international dateline invest in logistics and persistent deep sensing. Deep sensing networks will deliver situational awareness and targeting information, along with direct links to space systems. Expeditionary ground stations, airborne platforms such as the High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES), and logistics preparations show the Army’s commitment to deep sensing networks.

The MV-75 is meant to plug into the full data suite generated by the Army and the joint force in the Pacific. With its speed, the MV-75 could position at locations more than 1,000 miles away, move forward, and work inside the threat rings. The digital backbone would ensure the latest sensor integration and crafting of effects. Mobile force projection enabled by smart data promises to diminish the effectiveness of China’s ballistic missile strategy. China’s arsenal of 2,500 missiles is large, but not bottomless, and China’s commanders already face an array of targeting choices. Expending missiles trying to intimidate MV-75 air assault forces could be a costly choice for Chinese commanders.

The Army believes that “land power in the Pacific is the glue that binds the region together,” as stated in the Fiscal Year 2025 Army Budget Overview. Keeping the digital backbone front and center will give soldiers the edge.

This article was originally published on the Lexington Institute: Army MV-75 Has A “Digital Backbone” To Stand Up To China In The Pacific (From National Security Journal) | Lexington Institute

Legal Disclaimer:

The Global Policy Institute (GPI) publishes this content on an “as-is” basis, without any express or implied warranties of any kind. GPI explicitly disclaims any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information, images, videos, or sources referenced in this article. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of GPI. Any concerns, copyright issues, or complaints regarding this content should be directed to the author.