It's a fantastic aircraft, but we're about due for an upgrade. That upgrade could easily include the V-280 Valor, a tiltrotor aircraft (kind of like the V-22 Osprey) under joint development by Bell and Lockheed Martin, which offers substantial increases in range, payload, speed, and coolness over the Blackhawk. The above picture shows the first full-scale mock-up of the V-280, which will be on display in Washington, D.C. next week. The first operational prototype is scheduled to take part in a competition with other designs in 2017, and we can expect the winner to be ready for deployment by 2027.