All-Electric Craft Demonstrates Capability

The conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL), all-electric battery-powered, fixed-wing ALIA aircraft produced by BETA Technologies of Burlington, Vermont, successfully conducted a flight test carrying cargo from Dover Air Force Base to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JB MDL) after departing from the National Aerospace Research and Technology Park (NARTP) in Atlantic City.

The U.S. Air Force has been in a partnership with BETA to develop ALIA, which has a range of 250 NM and seats up to five passengers. The Air Force’s interest is in deploying it for cargo transport between Dover AFB and JB MDL because it saves time, money, and human and other resources.

The flight test was conducted by the 305th Maintenance Squadron’s Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory Team, who unloaded 319 pounds of cargo from Dover and loaded 222 pounds for the return trip.

Alyxandra Scalone, 305th Maintenance Squadron production controller said, “It brings key innovation to the mission. It's going to make things faster and simpler. Dover is about two and a half hours away from us. Today’s flight only took 45 minutes.”

Zachary White, BETA Technologies team member said, “An all-electric aircraft like the ALIA is the next evolution of rapid global mobility. We started working with the AFWERX Agility Prime Program in 2019. We are super excited to be here and supporting Air Mobility Command. Doing different types of missions and flying cargo between bases, it was great to see the flexibility of this aircraft.”

FMI:  www.af.mil/News/ , www.beta.team/