FutureFlight

Autonomous flight pioneers Daedalean and Xwing are teaming up to advance the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in aviation. The partners have agreed to share their data, knowledge, and processes pertaining to AI and machine learning, which both companies are using to develop software for fully autonomous flights using retrofitted airplanes.

Dronamics, a European drone developer that recently became the world’s first cargo drone airline, has its eyes on the UAE as the company prepares to mass-produce its remotely piloted Black Swan freighter. The company has formed a joint venture with the ​​UAE’s Strategic Development Fund to establish a manufacturing facility in the country. Meanwhile, Dubai-based logistics company Aramex, Emirates Post Group, and Qatar Airways plan to integrate the Black Swan into their freight operations.

UK-based Ecojet will lease 70 of ZeroAvia's ZA600 hydrogen fuel cell powertrains through the manufacturer's leasing partner, Monte. It has yet to say which 19-seat regional airliners it will retrofit to enter service from 2025 but has already made a commitment for the larger ZA2000 powertrains that could support 80-seat aircraft.

Securing EASA's design organization approval is a requirement for completing type certification of Lilium's eVTOL aircraft under the European regulator's SC-VTOL rules, and so a key step toward entry into service in 2026. Meanwhile, the company has launched a partnership in China to establish an eVTOL air service network with CITIC Offshore Helicopter in the Greater Bay Area, including Shenzhen, Guangdong, and Hong Kong.

Last month EHang won the race to be the first eVTOL aircraft manufacturer to achieve type certification when the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) signed off on the airworthiness of its two-seat autonomous EH216-S vehicle.

Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences has revealed a high-speed, vertical-takeoff-and-landing (HSVTOL) X-plane concept that it is developing for DARPA's Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) program. DARPA recently awarded Phase 1 contracts to four teams—from Aurora, Bell, Piasecki, and Northrop Grumman—who will compete for a contract to build and fly an experimental VTOL aircraft with a cruise speed of at least 400 knots.

Falcon Aviation Teams with AutoFlight for eVTOL Services in the Middle East and Africa

Joby Wins Government Grant to Support California Expansion

The state of California has awarded Joby Aviation a $9.8 million CalCompetes grant to support the company’s expansion in the Golden State. Joby said the funding will support a “significant expansion” of the company’s flight testing and pilot production facilities in Marina, California, and help to create 690 full-time jobs across its California locations by 2027. 

Piasecki Aircraft Corp. has received a $37 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to fund the development of its Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System (ARES) tilt-duct VTOL aircraft and hydrogen fuel cell propulsion technologies. The company says it is on track to begin flight testing with an ARES subscale technology demonstrator by the end of this year. Meanwhile, it is also working with ZeroAvia to develop the first zero-emission, hydrogen-powered compound helicopter, called the PA-890.

Electra.aero is using the two-seat EL-2 Goldfinch as a subscale technology demonstrator for its planned nine-passenger, hybrid-electric short-takeoff-and-landing aircraft. Test flights started earlier this month as the company works towards a type certification goal in 2028.