Air Force’s Mobility Flex Procurement to release eVTOL Request for Information
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.
The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Mobility and Training Directorate’s Heavy Airlift Division, Mobility Flex Procurement, released a Request for Information, Oct. 6, 2022, to understand the maturity of electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing vehicles for potential near-term fielding. Interested parties should respond at sam.gov no later than Nov. 4, 2022 by 5 p.m. EST. (Courtesy graphic)
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.
Read the full RFI at https://sam.gov/opp/92b43367167f413d86f438851cfaeac0/view
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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/.