EGLIN AFB, Fla., - Beta Technologies said its Alia electric aircraft landed Thursday at Duke Field, a subsidiary of Eglin Air Force Base, to begin a months-long deployment period with the U.S. Air Force. The aircraft, which made a series of flights down the East Coast to reach the base in Florida, is to be used for a series of experiments, Jonathan Welsh writes for Flying. Continue reading original article.
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
30 October 2023 - “We are really excited about companies like BETA when they invent things like this,” said Col. Elliott Leigh, AFWERX director and chief commercialization officer for the Department of the Air Force. "It is going to transform the way we see air travel in the world, but it is also going to transform the way we have air power in the Air Force. We’re going to learn what we can do with vehicles like this and we’re going to take it to our warfighters.”
Matthew Clouse noted for the Air Force Research Laboratory notes that BETA’s ALIA electric aircraft has a 50-foot wingspan, a range of 250 miles with a top speed of 138 mph and is 90% quieter than a helicopter. While ALIA has the capability to transport five passengers, the Air Force test objective is to demonstrate its potential to support agile combat employment logistics with its payload capacity of 1,000 pounds.
“All of the testing will be contractor owned and operated but the 413th FLTS wrote the test and safety plan,” said Maj. Riley Livermore, 413th Flight Test Squadron flight commander. “We are responsible for coordinating daily flight operations to include range scheduling and logistics support. Then we’ll write a report following the conclusion of the test deployment to report our findings.”
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Jamie Whitney, Senior Editor
Military + Aerospace Electronics
