DALLAS - Astro Aerospace announced that its Cavorite X5 eVTOL platform has been selected for the highly competitive AFWERX High Speed VTOL (HSVTOL) Concept Challenge – an initiative launched in partnership with the United States Air Force (USAF) and US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to explore innovative HSVTOL concepts that can support a wide range of military applications.
From a roster of 218 applicants, Astro is one of only a few OEMs in a small group of 35 successful challengers that are now in consideration to be granted funding associated with research, development, testing, and subsequently exclusive contract opportunities to produce and field aircraft to the USAF and USSOCOM.
Astro’s Cavorite X5 is designed for speed, stealth, and operational versatility to support military missions such as Special Operations Forces (SOF) infiltration and exfiltration, personnel recovery, aeromedical evacuation, and tactical mobility. The High Speed eVTOL is also purposely designed for disaster relief, rescue missions and cargo transport. Traveling up to 275 mph over 340 miles, the Cavorite X5 offers exceptional payload, speed and range ideally suited for many high-risk environments.
The Cavorite X5 unique wings allow for flight in a configuration much like a normal aircraft for 98 percent of its mission, reducing drag for increased speed and operational range. Using a hybrid electric power system, the aircraft may also act as a mobile power generation station and potentially a remote command and control node on a military network.
Horizon Aircraft, a wholly owned subsidiary of Astro, has completed over 250 test flights of a 1/6th scale prototype of the Cavorite X5 and will have a 50 percent scale aircraft begin testing in Q1 of 2022. This prototype will have a wingspan of over 20 feet, weigh almost 500 pounds, and will have identical control surfaces and moving wing sections as the full-scale aircraft.
