Strategic partnership supports near-term uncrewed defense operations while creating a roadmap towards increasingly automated commercial passenger services. Near Earth’s autonomy products are designed to integrate natively with Valo’s Honeywell Aerospace Anthem avionics, creating a fast, low-risk path to advanced autonomous capability.
Vertical Aerospace, a global aerospace and technology company pioneering electric aviation, and Near Earth Autonomy, a provider of autonomous flight systems, have signed am MoU to establish a strategic partnership to bring advanced autonomy capability to Valo – expanding the aircraft’s role across defense and commercial applications.
The companies intend to integrate Near Earth’s autonomous flight products with Honeywell Aerospace’s Anthem solution, the next-generation digital cockpit already at the heart of Valo. Because the technologies have been designed to work together, the partnership is expected to provide a faster, lower-risk path to introducing advanced autonomous capability into the aircraft for future defense and commercial missions.
Founded in 2012, Near Earth brings more than a decade of experience developing autonomous flight systems for programmes with the US Marine Corps, US Army and Honeywell Aerospace, such as optionally piloted Black Hawk helicopters and autonomous flight demonstrations on the Leonardo AW139.
Through the partnership, the two companies intend to pursue near-term defense opportunities while also creating a long-term roadmap for increasingly automated commercial operations.
Valo combines this autonomy roadmap with a highly capable aircraft platform. Alongside the all-electric tiltrotor aircraft, Vertical is developing a hybrid-electric variant designed to deliver up to 1,000 miles of range, payloads of up to 1,100 kg over shorter distances and the low acoustic and thermal signatures increasingly required for defense and special mission operations.
Valo offers governments a multi-mission platform spanning logistics, distributed operations, resupply and other missions.
Using a common aircraft platform across commercial and defense markets shortens development timelines, reduces operating costs and enables capabilities to be delivered faster to customers.
Stuart Simpson, CEO, Vertical Aerospace, said: “Defense is an increasingly important strategic market for Vertical, and this partnership moves us from ambition to capability. More broadly, it reflects how our industry is evolving. The story is no longer whether electric aircraft can fly. It’s whether companies can build scalable aerospace businesses capable of serving multiple markets.
Valo was designed as a platform from day one. Combining hybrid-electric propulsion, advanced autonomy and our proprietary battery technology allows us to serve commercial operators, governments and defense customers from a common aircraft architecture.
Near Earth is one of the world’s most experienced autonomy providers, with a proven track record across over 12,000 flights. Together, we’re creating a next-generation aircraft platform that is more capable, more adaptable and ready to support defense and commercial missions of the future.”
Dr. Sanjiv Singh, CEO and Co-Founder, Near Earth, said: “We’ve spent more than a decade bringing autonomous capabilities to aircraft for some of the world’s most challenging missions. Valo provides an exceptional platform for autonomy to enable uncrewed flight. By combining Near Earth’s autonomy with Vertical’s next-generation aircraft and Honeywell Aerospace’s open digital cockpit, we have an opportunity to deliver autonomous capabilities faster, with rapid integration, for both commercial and defense applications.”
Bob Buddecke, President and CEO, Electronic Solutions, Honeywell Aerospace, said: “Anthem was designed from day one as a modular, expandable and growth-ready architecture providing the building blocks for future applications. The Vertical–Near Earth partnership showcases how advanced aircraft capabilities and autonomy can come together on Anthem’s common digital backbone. Honeywell Aerospace is excited to see Anthem enable scalable open architecture in both commercial and defense autonomy applications.”
