Cheyenne

The U.S. Army is considering configuring at least a portion of its new MV-75A Cheyenne II tiltrotors to be able to refuel in flight using the probe-and-drogue method. This, in turn, has raised the question of how the service will ensure there is adequate tanker capacity to support that capability. Army officials and the MV-75A’s prime contractor, Bell, have both now pointed to a future where tanker drones like the U.S. Navy’s forthcoming MQ-25 Stingray could help extend the Cheyenne II’s reach.

Army Maj. Gen. Clair Gill discussed aerial refueling capability for the MV-75A, as well as other aspects of the Cheyenne II, during a talk yesterday at the Army Aviation Association of America’s (AAAA) 2026 Warfighting Summit, at which TWZ is in attendance. Gill is currently the service’s Program Acquisition Executive for Maneuver Air. The Army plans to replace a substantial portion of its H-60 Black Hawk helicopters with the MV-75A in the coming years.

“Our last chief used to talk to me all the time about aerial refueling. We think that’s something. Maybe we don’t get all of them [the MV-75As] configured for that, but they’ll have the capability,” the Army’s top aviation acquisition officer added. “For industry, I want you to think about how are we going to refuel ourselves, right? One of the challenges, even the Regiment will tell you, and make it top priority – their challenge isn’t you know how good they are on par, their challenge is getting somebody to give them the gas.”

The “Regiment” that Gill refers to here is the Army’s elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), also commonly known as the Night Stalkers. The 160th is expecting to eventually receive a special operations-specific configuration of the MV-75, which will include in-flight refueling capability by default, as you can read more about here. Existing Night Stalker MH-60M Black Hawk and MH-47G Chinook special operations helicopters also have the ability to refuel in flight via probe-and-drogue. However, Army Black Hawks and Chinooks assigned to conventional units do not have this capability.

“The Navy’s got some pretty good unmanned ideas there if you want to kind of follow where we’re going,” Gill noted yesterday.

Gill did not specifically name Boeing’s MQ-25, but this is the only uncrewed tanker the Navy is currently pursuing, at least that we know about. Furthermore, Bell released a new computer-generated MV-75 promotional video yesterday around the AAAA conference, seen below, wherein a Cheyenne II is clearly depicted linking up with a Stingray, or an extremely similar-looking variant or derivative thereof.

Meet the Cheyenne II

The MQ-25 is in development now primarily as a carrier-based platform, but there is no reason why it could not also operate from bases on land. Boeing has itself previously presented a concept for an enlarged, land-based derivative of the design that could help meet future U.S. Air Force tanking needs.

The MQ-25 by itself promised to offer very long endurance and extreme range, which could make it attractive in the land-based role, as well as when operating from carriers. TWZ has previously explored how those capabilities open the door to the Stingray being utilized as much more than a tanker, as well.

Currently, the U.S. Air Force provides probe-and-drogue aerial refueling capacity using KC-135 and KC-46 tankers, as well as HC-130J Combat King II combat search and rescue aircraft and MC-130J Commando II special operations tanker/transports. The U.S. Marine Corps and Navy also have C-130 variants that can be employed as tankers, as well as transports. Navy carrier air wings currently rely on F/A-18F Super Hornet fighters carrying buddy refueling stores and drop tanks to provide organic aerial refueling support.

Shortfalls in aerial refueling capacity, even to meet peacetime demands, have been an increasingly concerning issue for years now. The Air Force just recently developed a system that allows A-10 Warthog attack jets to refuel via probe-and-drogue to create new operational flexibility for those aircraft, as you can read more about here. The A-10 was originally designed to refuel in flight using the boom method, which the Air Force prefers for fixed-wing aircraft.

On top of all this, the Army has no organic tanker capacity at present, at all. Furthermore, the formal division of roles and missions with the Air Force means that the service does not operate fleets of larger fixed-wing aircraft like the C-130 that could be readily adapted to this role. All of this would point to an uncrewed platform like MQ-25 as the most viable path to establishing an Army tanker force, which could also align better with its expeditionary air assault concepts of operations.

Army MV-75As could still make use of other tankers during joint operations, as well. There could be other organic air refueling options available to the service, too, including the possibility of adapting MV-75 itself to act as a buddy tanker.

The Army is separately advancing plans to acquire fleets of uncrewed aircraft capable of performing a variety of missions in close collaboration with the MV-75A and its existing fleets of crewed helicopters.

For the Army, demands for greater range and ability that cover those distances faster were key factors in the decision to acquire the MV-75A in the first place. The service sees these capabilities as particularly critical in the context of any future fight against China across the sprawling expanses of the Pacific.

“MV-75, as I mentioned, that’s our signature system,” Gen. Gill said yesterday. “Unmatched range, unmatched speed, unmatched mission flexibility.”

During a separate talk at the AAAA conference yesterday, Army Maj. Gen. David Gardner, head of the 101st Airborne Division, the service’s premier air assault formation, also highlighted a recent training exercise that included Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey tiltrotors. He said that was done specifically “to help our Division understand the operational reach that it will possess with the MV-75 Cheyenne.”

Units within the 101st are set to be the first to receive operational MV-75As, with or without aerial refueling capability. The Army had previously said that fielding would begin next year as part of a major acceleration of the program. However, it has now stepped back from any fixed timeline for the first flight of the Cheyenne, let alone when Bell will begin delivering production examples.

“It’s going to happen when it’s going to happen. So we are moving as fast as we can,” Gen. Gill told TWZ and other outlets ahead of the AAAA conference this week. “If I was king, and I had all the money in the world and all the engineers, and there were no limits, we probably would be able to do it in a matter of months.”

As an aside, integrating aerial refueling capability onto the MV-75A, and working to pair it with tanker drones like MQ-25, could make the Cheyenne II, or variants thereof, attractive to other potential operators. The Marine Corps is now early in the process of refining requirements for a successor to the MV-22. The Navy has also said it is leveraging work the Army has done on the MV-75A to inform its plans for a Future Vertical Lift-Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) family of systems to succeed its MH-60R and MH-60S Seahawks, as well as the MQ-8C Fire Scout drone helicopter. Bell has presented concepts for variations of its V-280 Valor tiltrotor, on which the MV-75A is based, optimized for supporting amphibious assault and other naval missions in the past.

As it stands now, the Army does not appear to have made a final decision on the extent to which it expects to integrate in-flight refueling capability in its future MV-75A fleet. That will have a direct impact on any pursuit of an organic tanker capability.

Still, the Army and Bell are already pointing to the MQ-25 as an example of what could be on the horizon to help further extend the reach of the Cheyenne II.

UPDATE: 5:08 PM EDT –

Maj. Gen. Clair Gill has now offered some additional comments on aerial refueling support for the MV-75A to TWZ and other outlets at a roundtable today on the sidelines of the AAAA conference.

“We’re also thinking creatively about if we put aerial refueling – which you’re gonna see on the SOCOM [U.S. Special Operations Command] variants – if we put that on a conventional variant, then how do we refuel it?” he explained. “So we’re thinking through, do we need to develop a requirement for aerial refueling for ourselves now that we have really enhanced our capability?”

“One of the things that our special operations aviators – one of their most challenging tasks is helicopter aerial refueling. A lot of times people say, you’re telling me the challenge is the training of that, because it’s a pretty hard task,” he added later on in response to a direct follow-up question on this topic from our Jamie Hunter, who also called attention to what was seen in Bell’s video. “And I would say yes, but it’s actually the asset, the availability [of the] asset, to do the training. And we don’t have those organic to the Army. So I think we need to solve our own problems, and think about how do we do our own, let’s call it logistical resupply in the air, of an MV-75. So that’s where that concept photo or video was pointing.”

“We don’t have a requirement written right now, but I’ve talked with Army leaders,” Gill also noted.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

The U.S. Army has given us our first glimpse at what the new MV-75A Cheyenne II tiltrotor will look like in its special operations configuration. The baseline MV-75A already has features specifically intended to simplify the process of converting it to meet the needs of the Army’s elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, better known as the Night Stalkers.

Army Col. Roger Waleski, commander of the 160th, shared the rendering of the special operations-specific MV-75 during a presentation today at the Army Aviation Association of America’s (AAAA) 2026 Warfighting Summit, at which TWZ is in attendance. Earlier in the day, the Army had announced that Cheyenne II would be the tiltrotor’s official nickname. Service officials had also provided an update on the program to TWZ and other outlets ahead of the show, as you can read more about in our separate reporting here.

The baseline MV-75A is still in development, and it is unclear when it might fly for the first time. The Army has said in the past that it plans to replace roughly half of the 160th’s special operations MH-60M Black Hawk helicopters with MV-75s, but it is not clear if that is still the case.

From what is seen in the rendering that Col. Waleski showed at AAAA, the special operations variant of Cheyenne II will differ from the baseline type most in the configuration of its nose end. Like the 160th’s Black Hawks, its version of the MV-75A will feature a nose-mounted radar and sensor turret underneath, as well as an in-flight refueling probe that extends out from the right side.

The radar is likely to be the AN/APQ-187 Silent Knight, or SKR, a terrain-following/terrain avoidance (TF/TA) type. SKR is increasingly the default for U.S. special operations aircraft, including Army MH-60M and MH-47G Chinook helicopters, as well as Air Force CV-22 Osprey tiltrotors and MC-130J Commando II special operations tanker/transports.

The rendering of the special operations MV-75 also shows what looks to be a fixed, forward-facing aperture on the nose to the left of the radar. This most likely reflects the inclusion of a Degraded Visual Environment Pilotage System (DVEPS) or a similar capability, as is found on the 160th’s MH-60s and MH-47s today. DVEPS uses cameras and LIDAR, together with a terrain database, to help crew navigate through ‘degraded’ environments. full of dust, sand, snow, fog, and other obscurants.

TF/TA radar and DVEPS, together with other sensors and in-flight refueling capability, will enable long-range operations along extremely low altitude nap-of-the-earth flight profiles, even in poor weather and at night. Challenging long-duration flights in unforgiving environments is at the very core of the Night Stalkers’ repertoire.

The rendering shows the special operations version of the Cheyenne II is festooned with an array of other antennas, as well as additional ‘bits and bumps,’ just like the 160th’s helicopters are today. A similarly extensive suite of countermeasures and other defensive systems as is found on MH-60M is not visible in the rendering. It is very possible these features were deliberately omitted for operational security reasons. We can still expect the Night Stalker’s MV-75 to be crammed with special operation-specific self-protection systems, communications gear, and more.

Past Bell renderings have also given hints as to armament, sensors, countermeasures, and communication capabilities that will be found on the baseline variant, as can be seen below. It is possible that some non-special operations versions could be capable of refueling in flight, as well.

Beyond any special operations-specific capabilities, the MV-75 will also offer the 160th a major boost in range and speed compared to the MH-60M.

“I’ve said this before, I’m exceptionally excited about this platform,” Col. Waleski said today. “Yes, I’m excited about the speed. Yes, I’m excited about the payload, and I’m excited about the range.”

“But, really, the things that I find very interesting about this aircraft is [sic] the fact that we’ve gone to a completely modular open system architecture, maintaining the data rights on the aircraft,” he added. “For the warfighters in the room, what that means is your ability to adapt in the warfighting environment, it’s going to be cheaper, it’s going to be quicker.”

Modular open-architecture systems approaches focus heavily on the ability to more rapidly integrate new and improved capabilities and functionality down the line, often with minimal changes to existing hardware. As noted, the Army has taken steps already to ease the process of converting baseline MV-75As into the special operations configuration, which Waleski also highlighted today.

“There is a tremendous amount of growth potential for the warfighter as this aircraft becomes fielded here in the near future,” Waleski said.

When the Army will begin fielding the baseline version of the MV-75A is now murky. In January, the service told TWZ that it was working to accelerate the program dramatically, with a goal of the first examples reaching operational units next year. The original timeline had expected to reach that milestone in 2031.

However, speaking to TWZ and other outlets last year, Army officials declined to commit to a firm timeline for a first flight for the MV-75A, let alone reaching the start of fielding.

“It’s going to happen when it’s going to happen. So we are moving as fast as we can,” Army Maj. Gen. Clair Gill, the Program Acquisition Executive for Maneuver Air, had said. “If I was king, and I had all the money in the world and all the engineers, and there were no limits, we probably would be able to do it in a matter of months.” 

The Army does remain committed to the MV-75A, which the service sees as offering essential new capabilities, especially in the context of a future high-end fight against China across the sprawling expanses of the Pacific. Waleski’s comments today make clear that the Army special operations aviation community is still very eager to get its version of the Cheyenne II, as well.

In the meantime, we have now finally gotten a look at what is set to be the next major addition, at least publicly, to the Night Stalker’s fleets.

Jamie Hunter contributed to this story.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

The Cold War-era Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne might have been plagued with issues, but there’s no doubt it was among the world’s most advanced helicopters of its day. The AH-56 was so fast, and its features so ahead of their time, that the U.S. Army has decided to port over its name for its highly anticipated MV-75 tiltrotor, now officially named the Cheyenne II. The name also continues the Army’s tradition of naming its helicopters after great Native American tribes, and will find its place among icons like the Apache, Chinook, and Lakota.

In 2022, the Army picked a design from Bell, based on that company’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor, as the winner of its Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) competition. In January of this year, the Army confirmed to TWZ that it planned to accelerate its timeline for the MV-75 by multiple years, fielding the first examples in 2027 versus 2031.

The rollout took place today at the Army Aviation Association of America’s Army Aviation Warfighting Summit in Nashville, Tennessee. Speaking to journalists, including TWZ, before that event, Maj. Gen. Clair A. Gill, the commanding general of the Army Aviation Center and Portfolio Acquisition Executive — Expanded Maneuver Air, announced the MV-75’s rollout as “a pivotal moment for Army Aviation, for our soldiers.”

In keeping with other Army rotorcraft, the MV-75’s name also honors a Native American tribe (more accurately, two tribes), the Cheyenne.

As Maj. Gen. Gill explained: This name reflects more than heritage. It reflects identity. The Cheyenne people inhabited the Great Plains for 400 years, adapting to a harsh and unforgiving environment as highly proficient hunters and gatherers. Their way of life required constant mobility, organized around nomadic buffalo hunting, enabling them to assemble, disassemble, and move quickly to meet the demands of their environment. In many aspects, that same ability to rapidly organize, reposition, and operate with precision is reflected in the MV-75 platform.”

“Life in that environment demanded resilience and strength,” Gill continued. “Tribes navigated rivalries, dirt, conflict, and adapted as Westward expansion reshaped the landscape around them. Today, the Cheyenne are represented by the Northern Cheyenne tribe in Montana, in the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes in Oklahoma, whose legacy reflects the proud and enduring warrior tradition, ground and protection, provision and leadership. Those values demand capability, and in today’s fight, that capability comes in the form of speed, range, lethality, and adaptability. That spirit of mobility, resilience, and disciplined strength is what the name Cheyenne II represents.”

As for the other, historical Cheyenne, the AH-56, this was a first-generation attack helicopter drafted during the Vietnam War. Most impressively for the time, the helicopter could hit a 224-mile-per-hour cruise speed and dash at speeds up to 240 miles per hour, driven by a nearly 4,000-horsepower turbine engine and a pusher propeller on the tail boom.

F 03873 US Army Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne multi weapon attack Helicopter

While it boasted incredible performance and was packed full of advanced features, the AH-56 was destined for failure. A combination of technical issues, program management shortfalls, changing procurement priorities, high cost, and a fatal crash in 1969 saw the program terminated. But despite never entering service, the Cheyenne left a profound impact on the concept of close air support and attack helicopter design and today holds a special place in military aviation history.

On the other hand, there are plenty of obvious differences between the AH-56 and the MV-75, not least their missions. They also had different prime contractors, and, the Army must hope, will have very different outcomes.

Maj. Gen. Gill continued: “What the [AH-56] Cheyenne was when it was initially conceived in the 1960s was a transformational leap ahead in technology. It was a rotorcraft when we were still learning how helicopters flew and how we could get the maximum utility, speed, and range out of them. And the Cheyenne, at the time that it was developed, was completely different. It had a pusher prop on it that allowed it to achieve speeds that we hadn’t seen before. You could draw a lot of parallels between going from the current fleet of rotorcraft that we fly, that is really 1960s, 1970s-era technology … to what we’re doing with the tiltrotor technology. Twice as far, twice as fast, vertical takeoff and landing, but flying at airplane speeds. You can certainly draw the metaphor there if you want, between the AH-56 back in the late 1960s and the MV-75 today.”

Continuing on the transformational theme, Brent G. Ingraham, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology, provided his assessment of the MV-75, describing it as “a generational capability for the Army,” and one that “truly fundamentally changes how commanders think about distance, time, and maneuver on the battlefield.”

Ingraham continued: “It combines the vertical lift of a helicopter with the speed and range of an airplane, allowing us to project combat power from safer distances, penetrate deeper into contested environments, and deliver soldiers where they are needed most, faster than we ever have before.”

For the soldier, this means “restoring full-squad insertion at extended range, expanding medevac reach well beyond today’s Golden Hour, enabling large-scale, long-range air assault operations that can reshape the battlefield,” Ingraham added. Just as critically, the Cheyenne II will be able to self-deploy globally, reducing cost, complexity, and response time in a crisis. This is also especially relevant for future operations in the Indo-Pacific region, where operating locations and objectives are likely to be dispersed across large areas with limited options for making intermediate stops.

Ingraham also noted another key aspect of the program, namely the incredibly aggressive schedule to get it into service. Claiming the program as an “acquisition success story,” he described the team moving “with urgency while maintaining discipline.”

The MV-75 is designed around a modular, open-systems approach, with a digital backbone that should make it easier to adapt and upgrade as the program evolves.

“That means we can rapidly integrate new technologies, adapt to emerging threats, and avoid the costly redesigns of the past,” Ingraham said.

Ingraham confirmed that the fielding timeline is being accelerated, which means the first Cheyenne II unit should be equipped in Fiscal Year 2030. Exactly how realistic that ambition is is something that we will discuss in a follow-on story.

As Ingraham said, speed matters, not just in the air, but in acquisition as well.

“We did it through strong partnerships across industry, the requirements community, and our operational units like the 101st [The 101st Airborne Division, the Army’s premier air assault unit, and the first unit set to get MV-75s], ensuring this platform is not just technologically advanced, but operationally relevant from day one. Simply put, the MV-75 Cheyenne II is how we deliver capability at the speed of relevance.”

For a rotary-wing program that puts a lot of emphasis on speed, its new Cheyenne II name is especially appropriate. Let’s just hope its warp-speed development doesn’t end the same way as its partial namesake.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com