USAF takes first delivery of Midnight eVTOL aircraft from Archer Aviation
NewsAugust 16, 2024
SANTA CLARA, Calif. Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft maker Archer Aviation delivered its first Midnight aircraft to the U.S. Air Force (USAF) to evaluate as part of its AFWERX Agility Prime contract, previously valued at as much as $142 million.
According to the announcement from Archer Aviation, delivery of the all-electric Midnight aircraft follows the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) acceptance of Midnight’s military airworthiness assessment, a critical approval that enables flight testing by AFWERX, which intends to conduct government-directed testing of the aircraft for the U.S. Air Force and validate operational and military-specific mission concepts.
The company stated that a team of USAF personnel worked alongside the Archer flight-test team to ramp up Midnight's operations, executing simulated medical evacuation, cargo, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance flights.
Archer's press release calls the Midnight aircraft "a much safer, cost-effective and quieter alternative to existing internal combustion engine options."
