AFWERX Prime and the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, have announced an agreement to share flight-test data to accelerate the safe integration of Advanced Aircraft Mobility, or AAM, platforms into the National Airspace System, or NAS. The agreement is also that shared data will inform FAA certification efforts, policy, standards and future airspace integration requirements.
“The Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, will support AFWERX Prime’s efforts to advance the integration and maturation of AAM, including the electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and autonomous systems industries” according to the press release. “Prime, a division within AFWERX, aims to accelerate emerging commercial markets by leveraging government resources for rapid and affordable fielding, benefiting both the commercial industrial base and U.S. military capabilities.
“The agreement was signed by Col. Elliott Leigh, AFWERX director and chief commercialisation officer for the Department of the Air Force, and John Maffei, the FAA’s acting director of Portfolio Management and Technology Development, during an event at Duke Field, Florida.
“Leigh noted that, during the past three years, AFWERX has awarded more than USD345 million in contracts to 36 developers of electric aircraft and related technologies as part of the national AAM strategy. With the DAF investments, certifications, limited partnership agreements and testing, this effort has generated more than USD11 billion in commercial investment in the AAM sector.”
“With this MOU and the ongoing AAM Interagency Working Group, we are accelerating a breakthrough in electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft,” Leigh said. “We are driving progress in propulsion technology, in manufacturing and materials, and in test and safety for a novel class of air vehicles. Keeping this effort rooted in the United States, building our national security and accelerating innovation for our Airmen and Guardians are all crucial for the Air Force.”
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(Image: AFWERX Prime)