“U.S. Air Force engineers spent more than a year examining BETA’s ALIA aircraft, evaluating its design and flight capabilities against the demanding MIL-HDBK-516C standard,” said Camron Guthrie from BETA.
U.S. Air Force personnel and subject matter experts evaluated the aircraft’s design and maintenance requirements along with the company’s operations and flight test plans.
“Electric aviation is a national security priority and fortunately this was recognized early by the Air Force. The speed and efficiency of the Air Force Agility Prime program to support sustainable electric aviation has been remarkable,” said Kyle Clark, BETA’s founder and CEO. “The people and expertise that the Air Force has brought to the electric aviation industry and specifically our ALIA program is accelerating the development of incredibly capable, safe and reliable aircraft.”
With this airworthiness, the Air Force will have access to the first-of-its-kind, manned 7,000-pound class electric aircraft, and first of their kind immersive eVTOL simulators located in Washington, D.C., and Springfield, Ohio.
“This agreement will enable Air Force acquisition professionals to make data-driven decisions informed by real assessments of military utility,” said Col. Nathan Diller, AFWERX director.
BETA’s aircraft simulation and training facilities allow Air Force pilots and engineers to experience the future of electric vertical flight by rehearsing and testing the ALIA aircraft in a variety of potential mission sets and scenarios. The advanced urban air mobility technology simulator near the Air Force Research Laboratory in Springfield provides easy access to the Air Force’s greatest technical experts and acquisition professionals. The Washington, D.C., facility provides an ideal venue for future operational concept developers across the Air Force, joint force, and interagency to conduct research, assessing the opportunities of the electrified future. These state-of-the-art simulators are physics based and include weather, emergency handling, and mission scenarios with multiple aircraft.
Agility Prime seeks to expand technology transition paths to accelerate emerging dual-use markets by leveraging government resources for rapid and affordable fielding. In a first-of-a-kind arrangement, AFRL engineers used unique equipment and analysis capabilities to conduct structural testing on the ALIA aircraft. This data will advance the flight test program safely while providing valuable insight to the Air Force on a unique and novel aircraft design.
“Agility Prime is about creating a new path to adopt advanced technologies in the Department of Defense by working with innovative companies like BETA in ways that enable new markets,” said Diller. “The engineering, test, and acquisition professionals in Air Force Materiel Command have phenomenal expertise to help accelerate this and other emerging markets.”
In March, BETA advanced to the next phase of its flight-testing program, completing an interstate flight with ALIA from its Plattsburgh, New York, home airport test facility to the company’s headquarters near Burlington International Airport in Vermont. To abide by Federal Aviation Agency protocols concerning the flight of experimental aircraft beyond designated test areas, BETA completed rigorous testing to ensure reliable and predictable aircraft performance. In the same week that ALIA flew its first interstate flight, BETA also set a new record for range and altitude in ALIA of 130 nautical miles and 8,000 feet, respectively.
BETA added to its growing customer list securing agreements with BLADE and UPS for its ALIA aircraft and charging stations. BETA partners now span medical, logistics, defense and passenger segments. About AFRL
The Air Force Research Laboratory is the primary scientific research and development center for the Department of the Air Force. AFRL plays an integral role in leading the discovery, development, and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for our air, space, and cyberspace force.
With a workforce of more than 11,000 across nine technology areas and 40 other operations across the globe, AFRL provides a diverse portfolio of science and technology ranging from fundamental to advanced research and technology development. For more information, visit: www.afresearchlab.com. About AFWERX
AFWERX, a program office at AFRL, connects innovators across government, industry and academia. Through innovation and collaboration with our nation’s top subject-matter experts and harnessing the power of ingenuity of internal talent, by expanding technology, talent, and transition partnerships for rapid and affordable commercial and military capability. In 2020, Fast Company ranked AFWERX #16 of Best Workplaces for Innovators, alongside brands such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon.
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