Amping Airpower—Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing for the U.S. Air Force

Billions of dollars from industry have been poured into the development of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for future urban mobility. Air Force Research Laboratory founded Agility Prime to shape and accelerate the eVTOL market. In this report, the authors evaluate the utility...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Policy File 2024
Main Authors: Goldfeld, Dahlia Anne, Mayer, Lauren A, Brown, Jeffrey S, Cochran, Shawn, Elizabeth Hastings Roer, Litterer, Sydney, Mason, Richard, Mignano, Jim, McBirney, Samantha, Villegas, Carlos A
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Military aircraft
Military markets
Military strategy
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:Billions of dollars from industry have been poured into the development of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for future urban mobility. Air Force Research Laboratory founded Agility Prime to shape and accelerate the eVTOL market. In this report, the authors evaluate the utility the U.S. Air Force (USAF) might get from eVTOL aircraft, how much influence the USAF has on technical development and supply chains, and options to transition emerging commercial technology to the USAF to recommend an eVTOL strategy for the USAF. This research involved a literature review, expert discussions, operational modeling, aircraft performance modeling, electric charging and battery modeling, strategic modeling, and case studies. The main outputs are measures of eVTOL military utility, forecasted military market share, the future eVTOL supply chain geography, and feasible transition routes that the USAF could use to adopt eVTOL aircraft. Among the findings is that, while eVTOL aircraft could likely benefit select USAF missions, eVTOL aircraft are unlikely to be transformational to the USAF. Furthermore, injecting capital into eVTOL firms is not likely to have Agility Prime's desired effect of shaping the domestic eVTOL industry. The authors recommend that Agility Prime focus on two lines of effort: one for small-scale operational use and live experiments, and another to foster and continue collaboration with eVTOL companies in pursuit of autonomous flight. This research was completed in July 2022. It has not been subsequently revised.