Lockheed Martin Ventures (LMV) has made an undisclosed investment in eSTOL aircraft developer Electra through a Series A funding round. The capital contributed by the venture capital arm of the U.S. defense and aerospace giant will support the Virginia-based start-up’s plans to begin flight testing a technology demonstrator this year.
Using blown-lift technology, the hybrid-electric, fixed-wing design features eight sets of propellers and is expected to be able to operate from surfaces that are no more than 300 feet long and 100 feet wide. In addition to its patent-pending distributed electrical propulsion system, the aircraft will have a small turbine-powered generator to recharge batteries during flights to give the flexibility of being able to operate into sites where recharging infrastructure is not available. The as-yet-unnamed model will carry seven to nine passengers or up to 1,800 pounds of cargo on sectors of up to 500 miles.
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