autoevolution 8 Jan 2021, 13:54 UTC ·
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There are many efforts being made for the creation of a functional system capable of supporting autonomous electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Yet despite the huge strides made when it comes to the technologies that go into the machines themselves or the infrastructure to support them, large-scale use of eVTOLs is still a long time away. 1 photo
Or maybe not, given how the mighty U.S. Air Force is now pushing for these things to become real and, more importantly, work as advertised.
Sometime last year, USAF let it slip that in 2021 it will begin funding eVTOL projects, and to make sure everyone gets the message, even conducted a demonstration of such hardware at Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas. And now that we’re fresh into the new year, here comes another development.
socaltech.com
Carlsbad-based
Metawave, a developer of radar equipment, says it has been awarded a contract from the United States Air Force (USAF) to modify its radar systems for next generation, autonomous flying cars . The company said the Phase One contract goes for the USAF AGILITY PRIME initiative, which seeks to develop human-rated electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Size of the contract was not announced by the company. Metawave says its headquarters are in Palo Alto, with additional labs in Carlsbad.
U.S. Air Force Funds Adaptation of Automotive Radar for Autonomous Flying Cars
Metawave Corporation has been awarded a prime, Phase One contract by the United States Air Force (USAF) to provide a high-precision, all-weather sensing solution for electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The initial Metawave study outlined by the contract will identify modifications needed for the company s existing SPEKTRA radar for aerial operations, all of which will be applied to the development of next-generation eVTOL air-vehicles.
The USAF s AGILITY PRIME initiative seeks to advance the development of applicable technologies for operational, human-rated eVTOL aircraft by 2023. In addition to traditional aerospace companies, the Air Force is directly engaging with innovative new sector entrants, such as Metawave, that have demonstrated their ability to provide enabling technologies that will advance the req
The Air Force Has Big Plans for Its Flying Car in 2021
The Joby S4 is a five-place aircraft that takes off and lands vertically and transitions to winged flight. (Photo courtesy of Joby Aviation)
31 Dec 2020
The U.S. Air Force is planning to put its futuristic flying car through a series of tests next year that will help determine how the service can use the vehicle, at home or deployed.
The Air Force Research Lab s AFWERX innovation program announced the service s Agility Prime has cleared several regulations that moves planning forward for its organic resupply bus, or ORB. The flying car, the S4 made by aerospace company Joby Aviation, passed a Technical Airworthiness Authority (TAA) evaluation, the initial step that enables the unusual aircraft to fly under Air Force contract in early 2021, the service said in a December release.
Farewell, flying future
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it s a world that s way more pedestrian than we ever expected.
NOTE FOR 2020 READERS: This is the 14th in an award-winning series of open letters to the next century, now just one generation away. Babies born in more than 40 countries this year are expected to live to 2100 and beyond. These letters examine what the world could look like then â and how we can make the best scenario happen.Â
Dear 22nd Century,
Hopefully there is some kind of statute of limitations on inappropriate thoughts that flitted through the heads of those of us who were alive on September 11, 2001. (You know about 9/11, right? If not, you