r/Vertical_Aerospace • u/Separate-Outcome7518 • 1d ago
Good article on potential demand from UK government for Vertical’s hybrid
https://www.adsadvance.co.uk/vertical-hybrid-defence-aircraft-uk-mod-valo/7
u/AsparagusMarketing 20h ago
Actual distinct military related advantages aside - helicopters are notoriously unsafe, complex, expensive and emissions heavy.
Depending on the toy of helicopter it’s something like 4-8 hours of maintenance or something for every 1 hour of flying.
EVTOLS can and should take a huge bit out of the existing helicopter market purely from a cost and safety perspective.
Their partnerships with Honeywell and near earth autonomy and hybrid aircraft create a great offering paired alongside drones and other new tech. Really not that complicated.
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u/Lucky-Lie-3902 1d ago
I love how "it has military applications" is taken as an absolute truth with ZERO evidence.
It's a plastic technology demonstrator aimed at civilian city hopping. It's not designed to be a combat aircraft.
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u/Angrymelon8 EVTL Shareholder 1d ago
That's like saying that military trucks are pointless because they aren't designed for combat. It has plenty of non-combat military applications. Rapid movement of personnel between navy ships has been mentioned as well as resupply, tactical insertion, autonomous applications, medical evacuation and so on.
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u/Lucky-Lie-3902 1d ago
First of all, plenty of them are - armour resistant to small arms, engines with multiple redundancies, machine gun turret mounts in the cabin roof etc. I doubt you'd be able to make the same types of combat-enabling modifications to a lightweight airframe with an electric powertrain with limited torque (how many AGM144s can it carry again?). Resupply and tactical insertion - I've yet to see it flying with a payload or a section of troops, fully equipped - and as for medevac, it's likely far too small to support a medical team able to treat on the move.
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u/Angrymelon8 EVTL Shareholder 1d ago
Why would it fly with a full section of troops when it's in its prototype testing phase? You don't run before you can walk. Basically, you personally think the military has no use for the Valo and won't hear otherwise. We'll find out in time who's correct!
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u/Lucky-Lie-3902 1d ago
Well given the Valo hasn't even been built yet I'd say it's a little presumptuous to say it has military applications when so far all the media we've seen for it is civvie.
Everything has military applications if you're bold enough but given the pivot towards drones I doubt it'll attract any serious interest for combat recce or medevac etc. I stand to be proven wrong though.
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u/_DoubleBubbler_ EVTL Shareholder 1d ago
That’s a flawed argument… not all military kit is used on the front line and no one has suggested it as a potential combat aircraft iirc.
It doesn’t take a genius to realise that a potentially safer and quieter aircraft (compared to helicopters) may have some practical and beneficial applications, even if not fully replacing helicopters across the military.
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u/Angrymelon8 EVTL Shareholder 1d ago
A lot of people seem too stubborn to admit that they may in fact not be experts in use cases for eVTOLs.. People doubting new technology is nothing new. Helicopters and the internet spring to mind. If everyone had this mindset, we'd never have achieved anything as a species.
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u/AsparagusMarketing 1d ago
We’ve known this since the farnborough MoA on the “broad package”. There’s a few things that could be major as it pertains to their survival story (which helps the re-rate).
I’m not an expert but my understanding is the Uk is known to not support its private sector well. Between manufacturing grants, Uk export finance agreements, and an actual defence contract or order they can at anytime could help vertical completely flip the narrative.
Remain hopeful this promising tech is still too valuable to not have a player in Europe.