As the first U.S. hypersonic weapons enter service, defense officials are searching for new ideas for high-speed propulsion and to dramatically reduce prices.
The award by the innovation arm of the Air Force Research Laboratory supports testing of the Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System and a hydrogen fuel cell.
After focusing exclusively on eVTOL aircraft, the U.S. Air Force's Agility Prime program is expanding to fixed-wing types with the planned lease of a Pipistrel electric sport aircraft.
A $19 million contract launches the Flyer One program, with the goal of dramatically accelerating the airworthiness approval process for new aircraft designs.
The series of tests by the 40th Flight Test Squadron is being used to inform how the U.S. Air Force tests and applies the synthetic decision-making technology.
Long-term pressure gain remains the goal, but compact combustion is accelerating near-term adoption of the technology for high-speed propulsion systems.
The demonstration showed that an artificial intelligence “pilot” may be able to substitute in the future for a human controller in communications-denied areas.