Boeing A/MH-6X MELB

The Boeing A/MH-6X Mission Enhanced Little Bird, or MELB, is a light helicopter that Boeing Rotorcraft Systems developed from the A/MH-6 Little Bird and the MD 500 family as part of the Boeing AH-6 series. It builds on the Unmanned Little Bird demonstrator, which Boeing built from a civilian MD 530F and which first flew on 8 September 2004. Boeing incorporated those technologies into an A/MH-6, designating it the A/MH-6X, and the first A/MH-6X made its maiden flight with a pilot on board from Boeing Rotorcraft Systems' Mesa, Arizona facility on 20 September 2006. It is similar to the A/MH-6M but has a prototype glass cockpit and upgrades to its electronics and avionics, an additional 1,000 pounds of payload capacity over the demonstrator's 2,400 pounds, and it can be flown crewed or uncrewed. Boeing funded the development itself and estimated the aircraft's cost at 2 million dollars.