LIFT Aircraft awarded Phase III contract through Agility Prime to continue flight testing its HEXA eVTOL ultralight
LIFT Aircraft has been awarded a Phase 3 contract through the USAF’s Agility Prime Program, to continue experimentation and flight testing around HEXA, LIFT’s all-electric, single-seat eVTOL aircraft.
Since 2020, LIFT Aircraft has conducted flight testing under a Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract, to achieve initial military airworthiness approval and proven transportability by moving the aircraft inside a C‑130 military cargo plane.
The Phase 3 contract will use case development through a fast paced, rigorous flight testing program, which will begin at Eglin base, and will include efforts such as flight envelope expansion, acoustics testing, and developmental testing of a modular cargo adaptation for the airframe.
This aims to accelerate and further develop HEXA for future public and military applications like emergency first response, personnel transport, base logistics, and search and rescue missions.
“We are continuing to explore and develop a unique capability for the military — an aircraft that offers air mobility at a cost point comparable with ground transportation — and that in the future allows any service member to become a pilot,” said LIFT Director of Business Development, Kevin Rustagi.
Testing will initially be performed alongside the 96th Test Wing and LIFT has already begun coordinating with Colonel Doug Creviston of the 96th Operations Group, which has tested systems for the F‑15 Eagle, F‑16 Falcon, and A‑10 Thunderbolt.
Last month, two USAF pilots flew BETA Technologies’ ALIA eVTOL aircraft, which took place at BETA’s hangar and testing facility in Plattsburgh, New York.
The AFWERX Agility Prime programme took another step forward at the end of 2021 with the first US government remotely piloted flight of an eVTOL aircraft, when the training culminated in the first government remote piloted flight of an eVTOL aircraft.
Lt Col John Tekell, Air Force Agility Prime Lead at AFWERX commented: “LIFT is a great example of why Agility Prime exists — to further applications of eVTOL technology for both military and civilian use.”
Sterling Alley, Technology Transition Lead and LIFT Program Manager at Agility Prime said: “This contract enables flexible flight testing as a service for multiple HEXA aircraft, and we want it to be able to serve as a contract vehicle that accelerates HEXA not just for the USAF, but the DOD and US Government in general.”
Eric Horan, former US Navy government contracting officer and founding partner of Decisive Point, a venture capital firm that invests in dual-use technology startups, added: “LIFT’s Phase III SBIR contract award is a vote of confidence from the USAF and is an important step towards scaling access to LIFT’s HEXA eVTOL aircraft throughout the DoD and Federal Government at large.”
