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Beta Technologies recently completed two more military exercises in the U.S. with its electric Alia aircraft. The Vermont-based developer of electric aircraft and charging infrastructure has been working with the U.S. Department of Defense to demonstrate military uses for electric air taxis such as the Alia.
Earlier this year it completed its first two deployments at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida and the Air National Guard's combat training and readiness center in Savannah, Georgia. For the third and fourth deployments of its Alia aircraft, Beta collaborated with the Air Combat Command and Air Mobility Command, respectively—two of the nine Major Commands of the U.S. Air Force.
The Alia spent the last week in June based out of the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center in Alpena, Michigan, where Beta and the Air Combat Command conducted a so-called contingency location operations rehearsal (CLOR) exercise.
Over the course of four days and 24 flight hours, the Alia aircraft transported more than 2,200 pounds of cargo between Alpena and the nearby Grayling Army Airfield, including meals, medical equipment, cameras, and a tactical security system.
It also participated in a simulated medevac mission and helped to fill a logistics gap when a mission due to use a C-130 fixed-wing aircraft was canceled.
Beta completed a separate defense exercise on July 9 with the Air Mobility Command. That daylong exercise involved a series of five flights between Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, in which the Alia aircraft transported cargo and repositioned several hundred pounds of military equipment.
Configured as an air taxi, the Alia aircraft seats up to five passengers plus one pilot. A cargo-carrying variant will have a payload capacity of 1,400 pounds (635 kilograms).
While the Alia prototype that Beta has been testing with the DoD takes off and lands like a conventional airplane, the company is also developing an eVTOL model that will have a range of about 250 miles. The conventional-style prototype has flown up to 386 miles on a single charge in testing so far.
Beta expects the conventional takeoff and landing CX300 model to receive FAA type certification and enter service in 2025, with the Alia-250 eVTOL version to follow in 2026.