The Speed & Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) program was initiated by DARPA in 2023 to develop a cargo aircraft that can take off and land vertically (VTOL). Aurora Flight Sciences is one of the two companies awarded the contract to produce the concept and this week they showed some images of the concept and also announced the success of a small-scale test.
In the given concept image, two versions of the SPRINT will be produced. One of them is a cargo plane equipped with four propellers on the wing that produce the force to fly and land vertically. When not in use, the propellers are closed and the plane flies horizontally like a normal cargo plane.
The demonstration aircraft will have a wingspan of 13.7 meters with the ability to carry a cargo weighing 450 kilograms. The cargo plane that will be built later will be equipped with a 40-meter-wide wing with a 40-foot-wide cargo space.
Small-scale tests on a nearly 5-foot-wide model showed aircraft with propellers built into the wings could be produced. Aurora will continue with several more small-scale tests until 2025 before the actual flight test is done in 2027.
So far only VTOL fighters have operated such as the F-35B Lightning and AV-8B Harrier. Germany had produced a prototype of the Dornier Do-31 in 1968 but the project was stopped as it was found to be impractical after two years of testing.