The Pentagon wants a plane that can attain incredibly fast speeds while also possessing the ability to hover. The experimental Phantom Swift X-Plane will fulfill that role, and now Boeing has secured a $9 million to continue work it started roughly one year ago.
The idea for the aircraft, which resulted from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) VTOL X-Plane competition in 2013, will eventually be powered by an all-electric drive and measure 13 meters nose to tail and 15 meters from wingtip to wingtip, the military blog Defense Tech reported Aug. 28. The finished product is also expected to weight between 10,000 to 12,000 pounds.
“Boeing will continue to refine their design of the [VTOL] experimental aircraft, bringing it to a preliminary design review level,” the Department of Defense said in a statement, global security website IHS Janes reported Aug. 27. “Specifically, Boeing will complete the following milestones: system definition review; interim progress review; and preliminary design review.”
DARPA awarded the funds for a 16-month option on an existing 7-month base contract, IHS Janes reported. Of the four companies vying for a shot at making the Phantom Swift X-Plane, Boeing was the sole company capable of building and flying a scale model of the aircraft, the website reported.
Boeing bested companies Aurora Flight Sciences, Karem and Sikorsky for the contract.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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