Electra.aero wins Phase III SBIR Contract with U.S. Air Force to accelerate development and acquisition of its eSTOL Aircraft
Electra.aero has been awarded a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the U.S Air Force, which will support the development of Electra’s hybrid-electric ultra-short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft.
The contract, awarded through the Air Force Agility Prime programme, will help accelerate Electra’s plan to begin flight testing a full-scale hybrid eSTOL technology demonstrator aircraft later this year. It also charts a clear transition path for future Air Force acquisition of Electra’s eSTOL aircraft.
Electra was previously awarded an Agility Prime SBIR Direct-to-Phase II contract earlier last year, which accelerated the development of Electra’s hybrid-electric propulsion system technology. The Agility Prime program aims to champion the innovation and tech transition of electric aircraft into the advanced air mobility for both military and commercial applications.
John S. Langford, Founder and CEO of Electra, said: “Hybrid-electric STOL technology has the potential to deliver game-changing energy efficiency improvements and meaningful payload and range performance for Air Force missions of the future. We are thrilled to continue our close collaboration with the Agility Prime team and are honoured to be selected for this important contract.”
Electra’s unique eSTOL aircraft can operate from spaces as small as 300x100 feet using its patent-pending distributed electric propulsion and blown lift technology. A small turbine- powered generator recharges the batteries mid-flight, eliminating the need for new ground charging infrastructure.
The aircraft is currently being designed to transport up to 1,800 pounds of cargo or move seven to nine passengers up to 500 miles. Electra says its aircraft can operate in a variety of environments ranging from busy urban areas to remote landing strips, and fly missions ranging from on-demand passenger flights to cargo transportation, search and rescue operations and medical missions.
Ben Marchionna, Electra’s Director of Technology and Innovation, added: “Agility Prime is leading the outside-the-box thinking necessary to quickly and affordably deliver disruptive capabilities to national security and other U.S. Government missions like humanitarian aid and disaster relief.
“Hybrid eSTOL aircraft are particularly well-suited to support the Air Force’s agile combat employment doctrine by providing middle- and last-mile island-hopping and distributed cargo logistics in the Indo-Pacific theatre or operations in areas with limited infrastructure like Africa.”
The Air Force launched Agility Prime to help accelerate the commercial market for advanced air mobility vehicles. Leveraging unique testing resources and revenue-generating government use cases for distributed logistics and disaster response, the government plans to mitigate current commercial market and regulatory risks.
Agility Prime also aims to bring together industry, investor, and government communities to establish safety and security standards while accelerating the commercialisation of this revolutionary technology.
Lt. Col John “Wasp” Tekell, Air Force Agility Prime Lead, said: “We are excited to expand our partnership with Electra through this Phase III contract award. Electra’s hybrid eSTOL technology has the potential to bring a valuable, differentiated capability to the U.S. Air Force and Joint Partners.
“We look forward to supporting the rapid development, flight testing, and transition of eSTOL aircraft while continuing to support the development of advanced air mobility.”
We recently spoke to Diana Siegel, Head of Strategy at Electra, as part of our podcast series. You can listen to the episode by clicking here.