Vertical Aerospace and Near Earth Autonomy, a provider of autonomous flight systems, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a strategic partnership to bring advanced autonomy capability to Valo, expanding the aircraft’s role across defence and commercial applications.
The companies intend to integrate Near Earth’s autonomous flight products with Honeywell Aerospace’s Anthem solution, the next-generation digital cockpit already at the heart of Valo, said Vertical in a press release. “Because the technologies have been designed to work together, the partnership is expected to provide a faster, lower-risk path to introducing advanced autonomous capability into the aircraft for future defence and commercial missions.”
Near Earth brings more than a decade of experience developing autonomous flight systems for programmes with the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Army and HoneywellAerospace, such as optionally piloted Black Hawk helicopters and autonomous flight demonstrations on the Leonardo AW139.
Using a common aircraft platform across commercial and defence markets shortens development timelines, reduces operating costs and enables capabilities to be delivered faster to customers, says Vertical.
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