The U.S. Air Force is supporting the development of Electra’s hybrid-electric eSTOL aircraft through a Phase III small business innovation research (SBIR) contract. The new agreement, which falls under the Air Force’s Agility Prime program to evaluate military applications for new aircraft, follows Phase II support for work on the propulsion system.
According to Virginia-based Electra, the funding announced on February 8 (whose amount has not been disclosed) will accelerate its plans to start flight testing a full-scale technology demonstrator later this year. The company also believes that the contract puts the program on track for the Air Force to add the unnamed aircraft to its fleet.
The eSTOL model is being designed to carry between seven and nine people or 1,800 pounds of cargo up to 500 miles. Electra says it will be able to operate from landing strips as small as 300 feet long and 100 feet wide.
The aircraft features a blown-wing design with eight wing-mounted electric motors and propellers. A small turbine generator recharges the batteries during flights, which Electra says will eliminate the need for recharging infrastructure on the ground and expand the scope for operations away from established airports.
Electra sees the aircraft being used for a wide variety of applications, including on-demand passenger transportation, freight deliveries, search-and-rescue operations, and emergency medical support. The eSTOL design is one of several new technologies being considered for military missions by the USAF.
“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,” said Ben Marchionna, Electra’s director of technology and innovation. “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.”
According to Air Force Agility Prime lead Lt. Col. John Tekell, the U.S. military is keen to speed up the development and flight testing of eSTOL aircraft. He said the SBIR contracts are part of the service’s wider commitment to supporting the development of advanced air mobility.
