US Air Force hopes military flight certification of Agility Prime aircraft eases civil certification

The US Air Force (USAF) hopes its military flight certification process will ease the separate certification process necessary to permit aircraft participating in its Agility Prime electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) procurement effort to operate in US civil airspace.

Will Roper, assistant secretary for acquisition, technology, and logistics (AT&L), told reporters on 29 April that, once the service started growing flight hours with these aircraft and provided its “stamp of approval”, it would encourage the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Transportation, which governed the FAA, to follow the USAF’s lead.

The USAF hopes the military certification process for aircraft participating in its Agility Prime eVTOL procurement effort will ease their domestic civil certification. Piasecki Aircraft is offering its PA-890 eVTOL Slowed Rotor Winged Compound (pictured) for Agility Prime. (Piasecki Aircraft)

“When we fly over stadiums, no one is worried because we really know how to take the world’s most exotic systems that fly in the air and prove that they are safe,” Roper said. “I think we are going to be able to help immensely build confidence in the FAA and DOT and others to bring these [aircraft] home to bear in the US.”

Roper said that the USAF in Agility Prime was serving as a “bridge market” not to just give companies flight hours, but also give regulators at all levels confidence in these aircraft and enable a production scale-up. Roper said that he wanted 30 Agility Prime vehicles in USAF service by 2030 and that there were multiple companies capable of achieving that objective.

It is unclear whether the FAA will adjust its flight certification process for aircraft participating in Agility Prime. The FAA and USAF did not return requests for comment before publication.