DARPA awards Aurora $89.4 million contract for 'X-Plane'

摘要

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded Aurora Flight Sciences an $89.4 million contract for the second and third phases of an air dominance program that seeks to develop an experimental vertical-takeoff-and-landing plane with enhanced hover craft efficiency and a more favorable lift-to-drag rate. This cost-plus-fixed-fee contract is for the next two phases of the Vertical Takeoff and Landing Experimental Plane (VTOL X-Plane) program. The goals for the VTOL X-Plane include the ability to achieve a top flight speed between 300 and 400 knots; raise aircraft hover efficiency from 60 percent to at least 75 percent; present a cruise lift-to-drag ration of at least 10; and carry a useful load of at least 40 percent of the vehicle's projected gross weight of 10,000 to 12,000 pounds.