AAI will design a flying jeep under a $3 million contract awarded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
The TX Transformer programme asks the aerospace industry to demonstrate a flyable and roadable vehicle that can travel 250nm (463km) with four people and take off and land vertically.
DARPA intends to select two contractors to design and test a prototype, but so far has named only AAI as a contract winner in a 27 September announcement. Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky have also expressed interest in competing for the Transformer contract.
AAI has not committed to a specific design approach for the Transformer vehicle, although the company previously showed a concept featuring a slowed rotor compound (SR/C) design.
Tom Bachman, AAI's vice-president for unmanned air systems, says the company will perform trade studies in Phase 1. These will include looking at ducted fan propulsors, he says, adding that he believes rotor lift will emerge as the best approach.
Among various rotor-powered options under study are the SR/C concept and autogyros. The SR/C design reduces rotor speed as lift shifts from rotor blades in hover to the wing in forward flight, minimising drag caused by the rotor. AAI has signed a licensing agreement to adapt the Carter Aviation Technologies SR/C concept for military applications.
First flight of the Transformer vehicle remains about five years away. DARPA is likely to select two contractors to complete a critical design review in about three to four years. A single contractor will then be selected to build and demonstrate a prototype vehicle in Phase 3.
Source: Flight International
