Mary-Louise Hoffman
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Boeing‘s Aurora Flight Sciences subsidiary have agreed to transition aircraft technology developed through the DARPA-funded Vertical Takeoff and Landing Experimental Plane program to commercial applications.
Aurora said Tuesday its XV-24 subscale vehicle demonstrator reached key aviation milestones during the course of the VTOL X-Plane project.
The platform includes a a synchronous electric-drive system, electric propulsion ducted fans and tilt-wing- and tilt-canard-based propulsion systems.
DARPA awarded the company an $89 million contract in March 2016 to further develop the aircraft technology under the program’s second and third phases.
The unmanned platform developer also looks to expand its research efforts into electric VTOL systems for commercial use.
