The Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator, intended to inform the Defense Department's Future Vertical Lift effort, is entering a critical phase. Two flight vehicles -- the V-280 Valor, produced by Bell Helicopter, and the SB-1 Defiant, produced by a Boeing-Sikorsky team -- are preparing for first flights in the next year. Both had been contracted to fly before the end of fiscal year 2017, but at this stage only the Valor is keeping to that time line. Vince Tobin, vice president...
