{"id":28461,"date":"2024-04-22T22:28:58","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T22:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=28461"},"modified":"2024-04-22T22:29:01","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T22:29:01","slug":"u-s-army-awards-electra-1-9-million-contract-for-powered-wind-tunnel-test-of-contested-logistics-estol-aircraft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/national-news\/u-s-army-awards-electra-1-9-million-contract-for-powered-wind-tunnel-test-of-contested-logistics-estol-aircraft\/%20","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Army Awards Electra $1.9 Million Contract for Powered Wind Tunnel Test of Contested Logistics eSTOL Aircraft"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Photo above – Results from flight testing of Electra’s 2-seat experimental tech demonstrator aircraft, ongoing since November 2023, combined with the Army-funded powered wind tunnel test of Electra’s prototype contested logistics aircraft design, will inform the final design of Electra’s eSTOL product aircraft. Photo Credit: Electra<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Electra.aero, Inc<\/a>. has announced a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the U.S. Army valued at $1.9 million that funds powered wind tunnel testing of Electra\u2019s hybrid-electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft. The award enables the U.S. Army to explore Electra\u2019s unique blown wing aircraft technology potential to broaden U.S. military capabilities, especially for fuel-efficient, resilient logistics in contested environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Electra\u2019s eSTOL represents a new category of aircraft\ncapability, combining helicopter-like operational flexibility with superior\nfixed wing-like performance and operating costs. The innovative combination of\nblown lift and eight distributed electric motors significantly increases wing\nlift, enabling ultra-short takeoffs and landings from spaces as small as a\nsoccer field, and dramatically reduced noise and fuel use compared to\nconventional aircraft and helicopters. Hybrid-electric power ensures ranges beyond\n1,000 miles for national security applications without the need for battery\ncharging stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is a substantial benefit to employing the right-sized\naircraft for a given payload-range mission,\u201d said Ben Marchionna, Electra\u2019s\nDirector of Technology and Innovation. \u201cIt\u2019s a very effective method to\nsubstantially reduce fuel use \u2013 or operational energy \u2013 in theater, which\nreally matters for enabling distributed operations in contested locations. Many\nof the most commonly deployed military logistics solutions in use today are\nflown well below their intended payload capacity. Our eSTOL aircraft can fulfill\nthese missions while using dramatically less fuel, providing much more range,\noperating at significantly reduced noise levels, and utilizing the same\nconstrained operational ground footprints. It\u2019s an extremely compelling\ncapability and we\u2019re thrilled to be working with the Army team to advance this\nkey national security technology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The powered wind tunnel testing will advance Electra\u2019s novel\naerodynamics database for use in performance analysis, simulator, and control\nlaw development. These wind tunnel tests, combined with ground tests and the\nongoing flight test program of Electra\u2019s eSTOL technology demonstrator\naircraft, will be used to help guide the design and development of Electra\u2019s\nproduction aircraft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo above – Results from flight testing of Electra’s 2-seat experimental tech demonstrator aircraft, ongoing since November 2023, combined with the Army-funded powered wind tunnel test of Electra’s prototype contested logistics aircraft design, will inform the final design of Electra’s eSTOL product aircraft. Photo Credit: Electra Electra.aero, Inc. has announced a Small Business Innovation Research […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":28462,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Electra-us-army-contract-edit.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28461"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28463,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28461\/revisions\/28463"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}