Karem progresses to next phase of VTOL-X project
Karem Aircraft will continue its development work on the DARPA Vertical Take Off and Landing Experimental Plane (VTOL X-Plane) programme, with Phase 1B funding issued to the company.
The funding will see Karem’s work on its VTOL X-Plane programme bid, TR36XP, continue through a Preliminary Design Review (PDR) milestone in October 2015.
Karem’s TR36XP is a tiltrotor based on the company’s patented Optimum Speed Tiltrotor (OSTR) technology and optimised to meet DARPA’s programme goals. OSTR aims to provide the speed, altitude, payload, range, safety and affordability of modern fixed-wing aircraft without sacrificing the robust VTOL tactical utility of military helicopters.
TR36XP’s OSTR technology originated in successful flight tests in 2001-2004 of Optimum Speed Rotor (OSR) technology under DARPA’s A160 Hummingbird VTOL unmanned air vehicle (UAV) programme. Ten years of internal development have adapted OSR for tiltrotor applications, resulting in a family of OSTR aircraft currently being developed for a wide variety of military and civil applications.
Karem was one of four companies to be awarded Phase 1 contracts for the programme in March 2014, along with Boeing, Aurora Flight Sciences and Sikorsky.
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