Vertical lift innovations
Rotorcraft makers are slinging out new models and new ideas.
By Owen Davies
Contributing Writer
The past couple of years have been a period of ferment in the world of vertical lift. New models have been introduced. So have new technologies. Aircraft under development have made progress.
Some are nearing certification. Competitors have come and gone. In short, it has been much like any other time in aviation history. Here is a look at recent developments.
Helicopters
Airbus, Robinson, and Sikorsky all have new or upgraded models. Airbus launched its new 2-pilot/6-pax H140 at Verticon in March 2025. It is a 3-ton light twin intended to bridge the gap in performance and comfort between the H135 and the H145.
(L) Airbus H140, (R) Robinson R88
Powered by dual Safran Arrius 2E700-HP engines, it features a bearingless 5-blade rotor, a redesigned Fenestron tail rotor and T-tail, and rear clamshell doors. With a max cruise upward of 130 kts and a VNE of 155 kts, it offers a range of about 600 nm.
Although designed to facilitate EMS missions, it also is touted for business aviation, law enforcement, and firefighting. It includes a modular quick-change cabin that lets public service operators swap it quickly from one mission to another.
At the Paris Air Show this past June, Airbus also introduced the Flexrotor – its newest sling-wing drone. With a “dash speed” of 77 kts and 48 kts cruise, it can take off and land in winds gusting to 27 kts. Its max launch weight is 55 lb, including 18 lb of payload.
Designed for ISR missions of up to 14 hours, it can transmit data 80 to 100 nm. Australian aerospace startup Drone Forge bought the first 6 Flexrotors.
The company also unveiled HTeaming – a modular range of systems that allows helicopter crews to take full control over drones. When introduced, it had already been tested in flight with a Spanish Navy H135 and an Airbus Flexrotor. Airbus plans to make it available this year.
At Robinson, of course, the big news is the 2-pilot/8-pax R88 – the company’s first all-new helicopter in some 15 years. Introduced at Verticon in March 2025, it is powered by a single 950-hp Safran Arriel 2W engine.
Cruising around 110 kts, it has a range exceeding 350 nm and 3.5 hours endurance. With full fuel, it offers a payload of 1800 lb. A Garmin avionics suite and 4-axis autopilot come standard.
Options include a 3000-lb cargo hook, utility basket, wire strike protection, and pop-out floats. Robinson emphasizes that the R88 is not just for passenger transport. A flat floor, fold-down rear door, and stretcher-length cabin make it a good fit for EMS missions, and an optional water tank outfits it for firefighting.
Also at Verticon 2025, Sikorsky unveiled its newest variant of the venerable S-92A. Configured for firefighting, it can deliver up to 1320 gallons of water from an expandable Helitak belly tank STCed for the aircraft.
A snorkel can fill the tank in only 48 seconds. The conversion was developed by S-92 lessor Milestone Aviation, based in Saudi Arabia, and VIH Helicopters, an operator in British Columbia.
Sikorsky and Milestone Aviation consider firefighting as an almost-retirement activity for aircraft nearing the end of their useful lives.
After putting in years of offshore platform service, flying 2000 hours per year, S-92s can be converted to firefighting and remain useful for the next decade at 200 hours per year.
Tiltrotors
These aircraft got their start on the military side of aviation, so let us look at those models first. There’s bad, although not unexpected, news about the V-22 Osprey, which has suffered 12 major mishaps in the past 4 years. A US Navy review released in December concluded that the aircraft is overdue for a mid-life upgrade.
Mechanically, it’s the most complicated aircraft in the service. Compared with other naval aircraft, the Osprey has the second-highest number of components that could fail and cause catastrophic accidents. Worse, it requires twice as much unscheduled maintenance as the Navy average.
The report recommends a variety of procedural upgrades intended to improve maintenance training and compliance. On the mechanical side, job one is to retrofit the prop-rotor gearboxes. It’s already in process.
Four years ago, Bell won the Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft competition with its proposal for a new tiltrotor based on the V-280 Valor.
Known as the MV-75, its was scheduled to enter service in the mid 2030s. That target has been moved up twice.
Now the Army plans to begin testing the first aircraft this year and put the MV-75 in the field in 2027.
Powered by 2 7000-hp Rolls-Royce AE 1107F turboshaft engines, the aircraft will carry up to 14 fully equipped troops or up to 10,000 lb on dual cargo hooks. Cruising at 280 kt, it will reach a combat radius estimated between 500 and 800 nm.
The aircraft is expected to replace many of the H-60 Blackhawk helicopters, including some of the Spec Ops MH-60Ms assigned to the elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. Note that the first prototype aircraft has yet to be delivered.
Bell also has committed to build a 400-plus-kt aircraft for the Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) program run by DARPA and the US Special Operations Command.
An X-Plane demonstrator, the new model is expected to use a novel Stop/Fold rotor system to get aloft and pack them away as jet engines push the aircraft to cruise speed. Bell is expected to complete the aircraft in 2027, with flight testing to begin the following year.
Predictably, the US is not the only country pursuing tiltrotors. China’s United Aircraft has begun testing a large drone model known as the R6000. It features swiveling rotors very similar to those on the Bell V-280 Valor. With a projected max takeoff weight near 13,450 lb, it is expected to cruise at just under 297 kts with a mission radius around 810 nm.
A piloted model also is expected. It is presented as a civilian aircraft, suited for roles from personnel transport to EMS missions and firefighting.
However, observers have pointed out that it would be ideal for military functions that include ferrying cargo and personnel around the country’s many island outposts in disputed portions of the South China Sea and operations from the PLA Navy’s growing fleet of bigdeck amphibious assault ships.
Advanced air mobility
We could fill 2 articles with news on eVTOLs and still not cover everything that has happened in this fast-developing market over the past year. Here are some of the most important highlights.
It looks like Archer Aviation’s Midnight will be one of the first eVTOLs certified in the US. Before the year is out, it will be flying regularly in 5 test areas, including, where the company recently bought HHR (Hawthorne Municipal, Los Angeles CA) as a hub for its LA air taxi network.
(L) Archer Aviation Midnight, (R) BETA Technologies ALIA CX300
Archer also has partnered with NVIDIA to integrate the NVIDIA IGX Thor AI into its proprietary avionics and control software. The combination is expected to enhance pilot safety and help fit eVTOL operations into today’s complex airspace.
BETA Technologies officially introduced its 1-pilot/5-pax conventional takeoff Alia CX300 electric aircraft at the Paris Air Show last year. It offers a cruise speed around 130 kts and a range of 336 nm, recharging in an hour or less.
In addition to its own flight testing, BETA has delivered CX-300s to Bristow and Air New Zealand for test programs. The company hopes to receive certification late this year or early next, with A250 eVTOL following soon after.
BETA has also partnered with GE Aerospace to develop a turbo generator for a hybrid electric aircraft. GE also invested $300 million in the company. In November 2025, an initial public offering (IPO) raised $1.01 billion, giving it a valuation of approximately $7.5 billion.
China’s EHang introduced a new model in October 2025. The autonomous 2-pax VT35 cruises around 116 kts with a range of 108 nm. In addition to marketing the tandem-wing aircraft, EHang plans to use it as a developmental platform for a tiltrotor version and other models.
In addition, the company and launch customer Shanghai Hynfar Aviation began autonomous trials of the EH216-S for sightseeing flights along the Huangpu River.
It also has begun sandbox trials of the EH216-S in Bangkok, Thailand and plans to expand to test areas in Pattaya, Koh Larn, Phuket, Koh Samui, and many other locations in the country.
Elroy Air’s Chapparal is a turboelectric autonomous cargo carrier. With 8 lift rotors on 4 wing-born booms and 4 cruise props, it is designed to carry 300 lb 260 nm at 125 kts.
Elroy holds contracts wit the US Army, Japan Ground Self Defense Force, and allied forces.
Embraer spin-off Eve Air Mobility made its first flight of its full-scale autonomous eVTOL prototype this past December. The company plans to conduct hundreds of test flights this year.
It will build 6 conforming prototypes for certification testing. The company expects Brazilian type certification next year with first deliveries and entry into service following immediately. BETA Technologies is supplying the aircraft’s pusher motor.
Joby flew more than 850 times in 2025, including demonstrations in California, Japan, and Dubai. It also completed more than 7000 miles of autonomous operations over Hawaii as part of a defense exercise with the US Air Force.
The company test flew its turbine electric hybrid aircraft in November – only 3 months after announcing the project. Finally, it began power-on testing of its first conforming aircraft for Type Inspection Authorization – the final step in FAA’s type certification process. Joby expects to begin flight testing with FAA pilots this year.
Also in December 2025, Vertical Aerospace rolled out its third and final VX4 prototype, scheduled for flight testing this year. The aircraft has a top speed of 130 kts and a range of 87 nm.
(L) Eve Air Mobility, (R) Volocopter
Vertical hopes the 6-seat air taxi will be certified by 2028, with commercial operations to begin soon after. It plans to deliver at least 175 aircraft by 2030. The company is also developing a hybrid version of the aircraft with a range of up to 970 nm.
Germany’s Volocopter went under last year, but a last-moment buyout from Diamond Aircraft got it back in the air. Its 2-seat VoloCity cruises at 48 kts for a range of about 17 nm.
The VoloXPro is a slimmed-down version configured as a personal aircraft in the US light-sport category. The company expects to receive EASA type certification for the VoloCity this year, with commercial operations to begin in 2027. China has already given the VoloXPro a special flight permit. A nationwide demonstration tour is planned.
XPeng’s purpose-built factory in Guangzhou produced its first Land Aircraft Carrier in November 2025. The example arrived ahead of schedule. The company aims to begin mass production of the 2-seat drone aircraft and 4-seat carrier this year. The company has begun an extensive ad campaign for the roughly $288,000 system.
Owen Davies is a veteran freelance writer specializing in technology. He has been a futurist at Forecasting Inter-national and TechCast Global.