Engines
USAF Funds VerdeGo's Hybrid Powerplant Development
$1.9 million contract funds first production-ready VH-3 prototype
VerdeGo Aero's VH-3 hybrid-electric powerplant
The VH-3 is a hybrid-electric piston powerplant designed for small electrified aircraft. © VerdeGo Aero

The U.S. Air Force has awarded VerdeGo Aero a $1.9 million contract to build and test the first production-ready prototype of its VH-3 hybrid-electric powerplant, giving the Florida-based company the boost it needs to begin delivering the generators to its customers.

The VH-3 is a piston generator that offers 185 kilowatts of continuous electrical power output and a 40% reduction in fuel burn compared with turbine engines. It is designed for urban air mobility applications such as eVTOL air taxis, including Jaunt Air Mobility’s Journey eVTOL aircraft and XTI’s six-seat TriFan 600.

In this article