DARPA Selects 4 Companies for VTOL X Plane Demo

Four companies – Aurora Flight Sciences, Boeing, Karem Aircraft and Sikorsky – will compete to build a high-speed, vertical take-off and landing X-plane with improved hover efficiency, the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA) announced on 18 March.

The announcement adds Boeing and the start-up Karem to the list of previously announced teams selected to compete over the next 20 months.

DARPA plans to select one of the four designs to build a technology demonstrator and perform flight tests by 2017-18, the agency says.

The bidders face a tricky set of requirements. DARPA wants to demonstrate a 4.4t-5.5t (10,000-12,000lb) gross weight aircraft that can cruise above 300-400kt (556-741km/h). It should also have a lift-to-drag ratio of at least 10, twice the aerodynamic efficiency of current VTOL aircraft. DARPA also wants the design to offer a 25% improvement in hover efficiency.

The DARPA requirements also call for the aircraft to carry a useful load of at least 40% of its gross weight, including a payload weighing 15.5% of gross weight.

All four winning teams have based their designs on unmanned aircraft, but that’s where the similarities end.

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