Americans are experimenting with a new generation of aviation. Yesterday, January 23, the press service of the AFWERX division of the US Air Force announced successful tests of the Heaviside aircraft developed by Kitty Hawk.
Heaviside belongs to the eVTOL type - a class of aircraft equipped with electric power and capable of taking off and landing vertically, switching to "airplane" mode during flight. Kitty Hawk became the first participant in the Agility Prime project, which the US Air Force launched in February 2020. In addition, Heaviside demonstrated the possibility of both manned flight and remote control capability.
Heaviside aircraft
Image source: afrl.af.mil
The program is called Agility Prime and provides for the inspection of ready-made commercial vertical takeoff and landing technologies, also known as eVTOL. Earlier, the US Department of Defense had already experimented with electric air transport — for example, AirSpaceX MOBi systems were tested, and a hybrid X-Plane drone was being developed.
Promo video of the Agility Prime program
The US Air Force does not dictate strict requirements for the Agility Prime program. According to the request, the service is interested in eVTOL, which will be able to operate in urban conditions or on the front line. The machines can include an electric or hybrid power plant, be controlled by an on-board pilot, a remote pilot, or operate autonomously. At the same time, the US Air Force is ready to consider any alternative technologies. According to the program description, the U.S. Air Force is particularly interested in air vehicles that can carry three to eight military personnel at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour for an hour or more.