There are two threads, the first thread is what you talk of. That is in some phase of "testing" - there is the civilian certification and the DoD angle. The vid addresses both, very briefly granted.Pratyush wrote:This is the first time I am seeing this Beta eVTOL. The full scale test article has not made the flight flight till date. Yet UPS has purchased it and it is expected that UPS will have 150 of these.
A cursory examination of the UPS fleet mix shows no helos or short haul aircraft. So I must wonder where exactly this eVTOL will fit in the operations for UPS.
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The second is the next step. From my in-box:
(bold content is from the original email)Join us in exploring digital engineering and key technologies to develop a new state-of-the-art High-Speed Vertical Take-Off and Landing (HSVTOL) concept.
AFWERX, United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM), United States Air Force (USAF), and Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) are gathering thought leaders and subject matter experts to explore digital engineering and critical technologies for a High-Speed Vertical Take-Off and Landing (HSVTOL) concept to address the future of warfighting and runway independence.
Based on your areas of expertise and/or project interests from previous engagement with AFWERX, we think this opportunity is for you.
This provides *some* insight into where they *think* the likes of Beta vTOL are headed - IF they were not confident that Beta is doing well/headed in the right direction, they would have issued a BAA to address Beta's problems (it is far more complex than I am posting - includes IP, etc, but hopefully you get the picture).
So, to answer your question, IMO they are confident the ROI is good on the items you rightly list. Here on out it is a matter of satisfying SOCOM, etc (a very important source of funding AND excellent marketing material for the civilian sector - which the DoD will assist in (marketing). Nothing better than to tell a civilian that DoD approved my product.)
Along similar thoughts, something to think about:
As an aside, in the hal kya hai folder, the call to improve the performance of both TPQ-50 and TPQ-53 went out two weeks ago. "ML" (the latest trend everywhere) solutions due in May!!! (There is a particular segment where both are under performing - rather badly. Hey, tech improves faster than counter solutions.)