First Flight of Piasecki ARES Tilt-Duct VTOL

First Flight of Piasecki ARES Tilt-Duct VTOL

The ARES-DV Flight Module lifted off from Piasecki's West Helipad in Essington, Pennsylvania on Friday, September 6th, and achieved a sustained hover for a duration of approximately one minute before descending. Upon landing, the team attached the U.S. Army’s Mobile Multiple Mission Module (M4) to the ARES-DV Flight Module, and conducted a second successful one-minute hover, demonstrating the ability of its triplex fly-by-wire flight control system to sustain a stable hover in multiple configurations and a dynamic ground environment.

ARES is a modular multi-mission tilt-duct VTOL vehicle that can be operated as an unmanned aerial system (UAS) or with an optional manned flight module. ARES is designed with a small landing footprint to enable shipboard and expeditionary operations as well as provide embedded multi-mission C4I, ISR, combat, and logistics support to small, distributed combat forces operating over extended distances and in complex terrain. Rapidly reconfigurable Mission Payload Modules are supported by a common Flight Module to deliver multi-mission flexibility with significantly reduced overall logistics footprint and cost.

ARES features Honeywell Aerospace’s Compact Fly-By-Wire system, an integrated flight control system that is both lightweight and robust. Designed to fit into the limited space available on smaller aircraft, this state-of-the-art system provides safety-critical flight control capabilities typically found in much larger airliners and advanced fighter aircraft. It enables precise handling and stability across a wide range of flight conditions, thereby enhancing safety and performance — and is especially advantageous for VTOLs, where space is at a premium and weight efficiency is paramount.

The hover test flight was funded by an Army SBIR Sequential Phase II contract and by an Air Force TACFI Sequential SBIR II award. In November 2023, Piasecki announced that it was awarded a $37 million multi-year contract by AFWERX, the Air Force's innovation arm, in conjunction with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Army Medical Research and Development Command (MRDC), as part of its Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) program to accelerate ARES development and flight testing, among other advanced VTOL enabling technologies.

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