PALO ALTO, Calif., May 28, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pivotal, the market leader in light electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, today announced it has signed an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) contract with the U.S. Air Force and AFWERX Agility Prime. The two-year contract provides Pivotal with access to world-class test facilities, expert resources and multiple sites under restricted airspace. This support from the USAF and collaborating DoD entities accelerates Pivotal’s uncrewed and crewed flight testing and system verification. Accelerated test campaign completion on the Helix platform improves the timing and potential for operational deployment of Pivotal’s light eVTOL aircraft.
“This OTA (Other Transaction Authority) Contract with the USAF is our first direct-to-government contract and only our second DoD related transaction. We see this as a strong vote of support for the mission potential of Pivotal’s technology,” said Ken Karklin, CEO, Pivotal. “Not only are we going to advance the capabilities of our patented tilt-aircraft architecture through this relationship, we are going to accelerate the establishment of the Helix’s airworthiness and see its utility demonstrated in a range defense of missions.”
Karklin added, “Agility Prime is providing Pivotal access to the kind of world-class testing capabilities unmatched anywhere and perfectly suited to accelerate development of light eVTOL technology and its resulting mission capabilities for the force. Ultimately, this delivers better commercial outcomes for us, better capabilities outcomes for the DOD end-user, best value for the taxpayer, and gets us all there faster.”
”Providing expertise, logistical support, and essential government test resources exemplifies Agility Prime's goal to collaborate with industry partners to support the advancement of the commercial eVTOL sector, which could provide new mission-relevant capabilities to our warfighters," said Lt Col John Tekell, AFWERX Agility Prime Branch Chief.
About Pivotal’s Helix eVTOL
The Helix is a fixed-wing aircraft built on Pivotal’s fourth-generation eVTOL platform. The entire aircraft tilts for vertical takeoff and landing, rather than wing assemblies or rotors rotating to reorient thrust, reducing weight, complexity, and eliminating multiple points of failure. At the heart of this vehicle lies a robust fault-tolerant design, bolstered by triple modular systems for safety and reliability. Capable of manned, unmanned, and optionally manned missions, the light eVTOL aircraft can take off and land on pavement, dirt, or grass –– there’s no landing gear, simply a fuselage wear strip. The Helix complies with FAA Part 103 (Ultralight) category in the United States for flight in Class G airspace.
About Pivotal
Pivotal designs, develops, and manufactures light eVTOL aircraft. As an industry pioneer, Pivotal is renowned for the BlackFly, the first light eVTOL to be commercially available and delivered to a buyer in the United States. The company’s distinctive tilt-aircraft architecture and scalable platform have been under continuous improvement for well over a decade, and today, Pivotal has the most mature technology in the light eVTOL category. Efficient, compact, and simple, Pivotal vehicles are designed for a wide range of consumer, public service, and defense applications. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. For videos and more information, visit https://pivotal.aero.
About Agility Prime
Agility Prime is the Air Force’s transformative vertical lift program that is partnering with the electric vertical takeoff and land (eVTOL) commercial industry to propel the third revolution in aerospace and start to field a new class of air mobility systems.
About AFWERX
As the innovation arm of the DAF and a directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory, AFWERX brings cutting-edge American ingenuity from small businesses and start-ups to address the most pressing challenges of the DAF. AFWERX employs approximately 370 military, civilian and contractor personnel at five hubs and sites executing an annual $1.4 billion budget. Since 2019, AFWERX has executed 6,028 new contracts worth more than $4 billion to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and drive faster technology transition to operational capability. For more information, visit: www.afwerx.com.
Company Press Contact:
Heidi Groshelle
press@pivotal.aero
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8e630cfd-ae64-4980-8c3d-6d9bd577a224
