Multidisciplinary Optimization of Multi-mission Hybrid Group 3 UAS for Improved Range, Endurance, and Electronic Warfare Power

In the Air Force Chief of Staff's Action Order, "Accelerate Change or Lose," General Charles Q. Brown states "air dominance is not an American birthright." He goes on to discuss, "without the U.S. Air ForceÆs unprecedented control of the air and enabling domains, no other U.S. military mission enjoys full freedom of maneuver." Through our success our competitors have taken note and "are posturing aggressively to contest U.S. air superiority." As time goes on our Airmen in deployed locations will have to "fight to achieve localized air superiority to enable joint effects." General Brown makes it clear that, "potential adversaries [such as China] are also competing in other ways, threatening our ability to generate air powerŚfrom initial concept, through acquisition and fielding of systems, and operations and sustainmentŚwith the intent to deny our ability to project power globally." As a result of the increasing air power of near peer advisories, it is key that the Air Force continues to develop and adopt cutting edge aviation technology to stay ahead of China and Russia. Ā Odys Aviation, Inc. (Odys) seeks to solve this problem with our (2) novel hybrid electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft, known as the Laila (see Figure 1) and Alta (see Figure 2) . Laila is a runway independent Group 3 cargo drone, capable of 250 miles, over 5 hours endurance with a load capacity of between 50 and 120 pounds. The Alta is runway independent, transports 12 passengers or 4,200 pounds of payload (+ 2 pilots), cruises at 345 mph up to 1,000 miles, and can be operated autonomously or remotely. Both of these aircraft benefit from a hybrid propulsion system using a combination of turbine and batteriesĀ Through our durability and failure testing (the focus of this Phase I effort) we will demonstrate that LailaÆs design provides the warfighter with unparalleled mission flexibility, while maximizing up time and improving fleet readiness. Ā In this Phase I, Odys Aviation will perform multidisciplinary optimization of our Laila aircraft to improve range, endurance, and on-board power in conjunction with the Department of Air Force (DAF).Ā Additionally, Odys will conduct customer discovery with the AFLCMC Rapid Sustainment Office (RSO), Propulsion Directorate (LP), Air Force Research Lab Transformational Capabilities Office (AFRL/RST), and SOF end users in mixed wing squadrons. Odys engineers will determine the degree of adaptation and testing required to meet the payload, range, cost and efficiency needs of the AF end user and the best test program for demonstrating and testing our novel Hybrid Propulsion System for next-gen platforms.Ā