Vertical Aerospace and Honeywell today announced the signing of a new long-term agreement that expands their existing partnership and reinforces Honeywell’s commitment to the certification and production of Vertical’s electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, the VX4.
“Under this expanded collaboration,” said the press release, “Honeywell and Vertical will work together to certify two of the most critical systems on the VX4 that make it safer and easier to fly: the aircraft management system, which includes the Honeywell Anthem Flight deck, and the flight controls system, which includes Honeywell’s compact fly-by-wire system. Both systems will be certified for the production version of the VX4. The Anthem flight deck is essentially the brains of the VX4, combining cockpit displays, software, controls, and connectivity into one smart, digital platform. It is designed to be intuitive and highly automated, helping pilots make better, faster decisions. The fly-by-wire system is technology that allows the aircraft to be controlled electronically instead of mechanically, helping to improve stability, safety, and ease of flight.
“Vertical and Honeywell will be certifying these systems to the highest safety standards of 10-9 as set by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which is collaborating with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on VX4 validation. Certifying to 10-9 means a catastrophic system failure rate of one in a billion flight hours – the same standard as commercial airliners. Meeting this safety standard exceeds the targeted standards announced by some of Vertical’s competitors and is intended to make the VX4 the most exportable and certifiable eVTOL globally.
“The companies will share expertise, personnel and testing environments, which are collectively expected to speed up the VX4’s development and help both companies achieve certification and quickly move to production. As part of its Flightpath 2030 strategy, Vertical intends to certify the VX4 in 2028 and deliver at least 150 aircraft to customers by 2030. The expanded partnership has a potential USD1 billion in projected contract value over the next decade.”
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https://vertical-aerospace.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Vertical-Aerospace-Honeywell-expand-partnership-to-bring-VX4-eVTOL-to-market.pdf