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The US Air Force (USAF), in partnership with the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), initiated the “High-Speed Vertical Take-Off and Landing (HSVTOL) Concept Challenge” in April (see “Industry Briefs,” Vertiflite, July/Aug 2021)
On April 7, United Parcel Service (UPS) announced that its UPS Flight Forward subsidiary plans to purchase and operate cargo aircraft from Burlington, Vermont-based Beta Technologies.
The US Air Force officially launched its Agility Prime initiative when it issued a request for information (RFI) on Dec. 17, 2019 — the 116th anniversary of the Wright Flyer making the first heavier-than-air powered flight. In the first intake of companies in the Air Force’s “Air Race to Certification,” some 20 eVTOL companies applied to participate.
This year, the US Air Force’s Agility Prime initiative will help finance the flight test and certification efforts of about 20 different eVTOL aircraft participating in its “Air Race to Certification” program.
The US Air Force’s AFWERX innovation organization announced on Oct. 26 that it intended to select more than 250 proposals as part of its “X20D” Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) open topic solicitation, a record in the program’s nearly three-decade history. This X20D solicitation was focused on the Agility Prime program, the AFWERX initiative to operationalize AAM/eVTOL for government missions in a way that accelerates the emerging commercial market.
The senior leadership of the United States Air Force witnessed their first flight of an electric powered VTOL aircraft on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, when LIFT Aircraft gave a demonstration of its single-seat HEXA aircraft on the parade ground of Camp Mabry near downtown Austin, Texas.
On Aug. 20, 2020, the three top leaders of the United States Air Force had their first opportunity to see an electric powered vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in flight during a visit to headquarters of the Air Force’s innovation hub, AFWERX, in Austin, Texas.
The US Air Force got an unexpected payoff in April from, of all things, the novel coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 led the service to officially launch Agility Prime — its initiative to boost electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and related technologies — online instead of live. Broad participation by senior military officers and government officials in the quickly organized “virtual conference” showed significant support for Agility Prime within federal ranks.
On April 27–May 1, the US Air Force held a week-long virtual launch event for its Agility Prime initiative. Dr. Will Roper, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics, launched the program to accelerate the growth of the transformative vertical flight market for subsequent government use.
The Air Force marked the 116th anniversary of the Dec. 17, 1903, Wright brothers flight at Kitty Hawk by issuing a request for information (RFI) aimed at helping foster a new powered flight revolution — electric or hybrid electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft — eventually self-flying.
