Locking-in the Future Role of eVTOLs in US DoD’s Enterprise

Incrementally, deliberately and typically without much fanfare, US DoD if moving forward to solidify eVTOLs in select, future US DoD missions.

Two developments of the past 72 hours helped “connect the dots” on the Pentagon’s intent to step up its efforts to have these aircraft as resources in its future mission sets. Concurrent with the growth of this nascent fleet are huge implications for training the operators and maintainers of future military eVTOLs.

This August 12, AFWERX, the innovation arm of the US Department of the Air Force and powered by the Air Force Research Laboratory, announced it was advancing cross-training for technical experts through its Traditional Fellowship. One notional project eyed by AFWERX includes aiding in the development of airmen and Guardians for technical assignments in the eVTOL field. Comments the author heard during WATS 2024 from Dr. Samantha Emerson, Research Scientist at Aptima, about the evolution of maintenance training still resonate well and are worth again noting  -- especially as AFWERX and its commercial eVTOL sector counterparts are building its eVTOL operator and maintainer workforces.

And then there is AFWERX’s continued investment and receipt of eVTOLs to help inform service and wider department-level leadership decisions on employing these aircraft around the forces. Most recently, this August 15, Archer announced the delivery of its first Midnight aircraft to AFWERX under the Agility Prime contract vehicle.

The conceptual missions for Midnight and other OEM’s eVTOLs remain: medical evacuation, cargo, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance flights – don’t expect OEMs to be adding weight and other attributes to their eVTOLs any time soon to permit them to carry more lethal payloads complete more risky missions.

Eyes on US DoD’s eVTOL Activities

Last week’s delivery of Archer’s Midnight is not a one-off event – US DoD is taking delivery of other eVTOLs to build its knowledge base and inform its program decisions about these new aircraft.

MS&T will be following and commenting on related eVTOL training readiness issues and activities as they evolve.