FutureFlight
U.S. Air Force Backs Elroy's Chaparral Freighter with Follow-on Agility Prime Contract
After making some changes to the Chaparral prototype, Elroy Air expects to resume flight testing of the hybrid-electric cargo transport during 2021.
Elroy Air Chaparral
Development of Elroy Air's Chaparral autonomous freighter aircraft is be backed by the U.S. Air Force through its Agility Prime program. (Photo: Elroy Air)

The U.S. Air Force’s Agility Prime program has awarded a Phase 3 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to Elroy Air. The contract, for which the value has not been confirmed, will support technical demonstrations and performance validation of the California-based start-up’s Chaparral autonomous cargo-carrying eVTOL aircraft, with flight trials due to start in 2021.

Agility Prime is collaborating with companies to accelerate entry into commercial service of new advanced air mobility vehicles that could support a variety of military missions, including logistics. The Air Force aims to be able to acquire aircraft that would be ready to achieve initial operational capability from 2023.

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