WaveAerospace is building the first commercial example of its Huntress Turbojet uncrewed VTOL aircraft, which it is preparing for the start of flight testing this summer. The Connecticut-based start-up says the vehicle, with a theoretical top speed of Mach 0.7 (467 knots), will be well-placed to fill multiple challenging roles due to its ability to operate in all weather conditions.
With a payload of 110 pounds, the hybrid-electric Huntress is expected to have a flight endurance of two hours. According to Wave, it will be able to be launched not only from the ground, but also from a ship or larger aircraft, and operate in wind conditions higher than 60 mph.
The U.S. company's co-founder Steven Bofill told AIN the Huntress’s architecture is similar to that of a quadcopter but with the ability to operate at significantly higher speeds and to use reverse thrust to land on surfaces such as the deck of a ship without having to employ cables or harpoon recovery systems. Wave envisages the aircraft being used for various military roles, as well as for beyond-visual-line-of-sight applications such as search-and-rescue, critical logistics flights in harsh environments, and command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions.
Wave is aiming to be ready to start delivering the Huntress in early 2025, having had the vehicle in development for five years with several sub-scale and electric prototypes built and demonstrated to prepare the way for the full-size turbojet model. It has already demonstrated an all-electric version of the vehicle to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The company, which is based at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford, Connecticut, is now building an 'iron bird' example for ground testing and a full-scale prototype it expects to be ready for flight testing in the third quarter. The iron bird will mainly be used to test the behavior of the turbojet under high rotational stress before being converted into a second flight-test demonstrator.
According to Strauss, Wave expects the Huntress to be subject to the same certification process as other "heavy" uncrewed aircraft systems, as opposed to the FAA's less onerous Part 107. Given the international interest that Wave said it has received, it is now exploring requirements in several overseas jurisdictions.
"While the timeline may seem short, it is essential to remember that the configuration and control systems that allow the Huntress to fly safely and reliably have been in real-world testing for years," Wave CEO and co-founder Mark Strauss. "The Huntress Electric has flown hundreds of hours of tests in conditions ranging from calm to Force 10 ocean states. In essence, we are simply scaling up the aircraft and swapping its 10 kW electric propulsor core with a small turbojet."
Wave is using a modified existing propulsion system for the Huntress, and it has already demonstrated an all-electric version of the vehicle to the U.S. Coast Guard. The turbojet element of the hybrid propulsion, which runs on standard fuels such as jet A1 or JP-5, is coupled with four high-speed electric propfans installed on the wingtips.
Turbojet Combines With Electric Wingtips
According to Wave, the turbojet will generate around 350 pounds of thrust, with supplemental thrust generated by the aircraft's wingtip motors available for stabilization and orientation. The forward spike feature on the Huntress supports 'intake shaping' through which air is accelerated around the turbojet, creating what is essentially a fanless, low bypass engine with the pressure at the engine inlet optimally maintained to maximize the efficiency of the engine.
For surveillance operations, the Huntress can be fitted with various sensor packages, such as EO/IR cameras, and hover in a stationary loiter mode. According to Wave, it will have a standard communications link range of 30 kilometers (18.6 miles), rising to 120 kilometers with a satellite-based mesh network without video streaming.
In September 2023, Wave secured undisclosed funding from Augurey Ventures and Brookline Capital Markets. The company is a founding member of the University of Connecticut’s Stamford Technology Incubator Program.
Wave has also developed the smaller Falcon II LE all-weather drone for law enforcement and emergency services applications. With a 20-pound payload, this can be fitted with equipment such as cameras and searchlights, with a 6o-minute flight endurance and a top speed of over 80 mph.
