WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFRL) —
The
Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, or AFLCMC, Mobility and Training Directorate’s Heavy Airlift Division, Mobility Flex Procurement, released a Request for Information, or RFI, Oct. 6, 2022, to understand the maturity of electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing vehicles, or eVTOLs, for potential near-term fielding.
This RFI, led by the Program Executive Office for Mobility and Training Aircraft, will focus on evaluating eVTOLs for business use-cases of eVTOL aircraft for distinguished visitor, or DV, transport and test range logistics support missions by supplementing current Department of Defense capabilities in each of those mission areas. The DOD is exploring multiple aspects of cost and methods to obtain runway/road independent personnel transport capability, which may include but are not limited to system purchase, lease and/or obtaining capability as a service.
Through this RFI, Mobility Flex Procurement aims to collect cost information and basic associated capability metrics to use for comparison with other available air transportation assets. The U.S. Government is interested in exploring commercial interest in aligning initial commercial operating locations with U.S. Air Force squadrons, which would enable U.S. Government use of eVTOL for DV transport missions and range logistics support where road access is not practicable, such as desert, swamp or snowpack, while allowing commercial use of the vehicle otherwise. It is likely that these military missions are closely aligned to the commercial design intent of these vehicles. This mission alignment will provide a mutually beneficial early use case for both the military and commercial industry and reduce regulatory, financial and technical risk
Interested parties should respond at sam.gov no later than Nov. 4, 2022 by 5 p.m. EST.
About AFRL
The Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, is the primary scientific research and development center for the Department of the Air Force. AFRL plays an integral role in leading the discovery, development and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for our air, space, and cyberspace force. With a workforce of more than 11,500 across nine technology areas and 40 other operations across the globe, AFRL provides a diverse portfolio of science and technology ranging from fundamental to advanced research and technology development. For more information, visit
www.afresearchlab.com.
About AFWERX
AFWERX, a program office at the Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, connects innovators across government, industry and academia. Through innovation and collaboration with our nation’s top subject-matter experts, AFWERX harnesses internal talent and expands technology, transitioning partnerships for rapid and affordable commercial and military capability. In 2020, Fast Company ranked AFWERX #16 of Best Workplaces for Innovators, alongside brands such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon. Additional information is available at
https://www.afwerx.com/.
About Agility Prime
The Air Force recently launched Agility Prime, a non-traditional program seeking to accelerate the commercial market for advanced air mobility vehicles. Leveraging unique testing resources and revenue generating government use cases for distributed logistics and disaster response, the government plans to mitigate current commercial market and regulatory risks. Agility Prime also aims to bring together industry, investor and government communities to establish safety and security standards while accelerating commercialization of this revolutionary technology. Additional information is available at
https://agilityprime.com/.
