Alert 5

Aviation News

Day: February 2, 2023

Electra selected for Strategic Funding Increase Award by USAF

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The U.S. Air Force (USAF) has chosen Electra Aero for a Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) award, securing up to $85 million in investment funding. This award will go towards the rapid development of a full-scale pre-production prototype of Electra’s electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft. The eSTOL aircraft represents a new class of aircraft, characterized by helicopter-like operational flexibility and better performance and operating costs than comparable fixed-wing aircraft.


Graphic: Electra
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DARPA selects two teams for phase one of Liberty Lifter

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DARPA has enlisted two teams, General Atomics with Maritime Applied Physics Corporation and Aurora Flight Sciences with Gibbs & Cox and ReconCraft, to develop designs for the Liberty Lifter Seaplane Wing-in-Ground Effect program.


Graphic: DARPA
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Ga-ASI and U.S. Army make headway in UAS technology with Eaglet flight

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General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) flew a new survivable Air-Launched Effect (ALE) for the first time as part of a flight demonstration based out of the Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah, on Dec. 8, 2022. The ALE, known as Eaglet, was launched from a U.S. Army MQ-1C Gray Eagle Extended Range (GE-ER) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). The Eaglet flight was jointly funded by GA-ASI and the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development (DEVCOM) Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC).


Photo: GA-ASI
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