In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, Mar. 22 2023

Credit: Vertical Aerospace. UK startup Vertical Aerospace plans to seek additional investment this year to continue development of its VX4 electric-vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) air taxi.

Credit: NASA. Though amazing in their day, NASA’s Apollo missions to the Moon a half century ago lacked the challenges that the agency’s Artemis program faces, says Bhavya Lal, NASA’s associate administrator for technology, policy and strategy.

Credit: Regent. Lockheed Martin Ventures has invested an undisclosed amount in electric seaglider startup Regent to speed up the development of a military variant of the company’s vehicle.

Credit: Air Force Research Laboratory. A U.S. Air Force program will try to prove an off-the-shelf aircraft and engine can be modified into an affordable, Ultra Long-Endurance Unmanned Reconnaissance Aircraft (ULTRA) that came remain airborne for multiple days.

Credit: Jetson. The newly appointed CEO of Jetson predicts that some of the earliest adopters of electric-vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) vehicles will be private owners who use their aircraft mainly for recreational purposes, with commercial passenger-carrying operations to arrive later. 

Credit: Aeronautics Group. Israel’s Aeronautics Group will see its Orbiter 4 uncrewed aircraft system being manufactured and assembled in Thailand, following the signing of a teaming agreement with RV Connex last month.

Credit: Ampaire. Ampaire has begun flight-testing propulsion electrification technologies on its hybrid-electric testbed aircraft under contract to the U.S. Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E).

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