FutureFlight
Aurora Reveals Blended-wing-body HSVTOL X-plane Concept
Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences is developing a high-speed, vertical-takeoff-and-landing (HSVTOL) X-plane concept for DARPA's SPRINT program.
Artist's concept of Aurora's blended-wing-body HSVTOL aircraft
Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences is developing a high-speed, vertical-takeoff-and-landing (HSVTOL) X-plane concept under DARPA's SPRINT program. (Image: Aurora Flight Sciences)

Aurora Flight Sciences has revealed a high-speed, vertical-lift X-plane concept that the Boeing company is developing under a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). 

DARPA has selected Aurora and three other companies to participate in its Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) project, in which the teams will compete for a contract to build and fly an experimental aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capabilities and a cruise speed of 400 to 450 knots. Initial Phase 1 contracts, which fund the conceptual design phase, were awarded to Aurora, Northrop Grumman, Bell Textron, and Piasecki. 

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