Skydweller Aero’s Primary Flight Control Actuators Take Flight with Collaborative Combat Aircraft
This flight marks the first application of Skydweller technology to a jet aircraft
Skydweller Aero’s VECTA actuator suite takes flight and completes maneuvers with Northrop Grumman’s YFQ-48A Talon Blue first flight.
VECTA is a low-maintenance, high-performance, dual-redundant, safety-critical electromechanical actuator suite. Its compact size and high output torque support CCA, business jets, and upgrades of cable-controlled aircraft to optionally piloted or autonomous capability.
“Congratulations to Northrop Grumman and its Talon Blue team on this important milestone,” said Dr. Robert Miller, CEO and co-founder of Skydweller Aero. “Great work by the Skydweller team. We are proud to see VECTA fly on Talon Blue, and grateful to Northrop Grumman for the collaboration that made it possible.”
The successful flight builds on Skydweller’s experience developing redundant safety-critical fly-by-wire autonomous systems and demonstrates Skydweller technology’s broad applicability to advanced platforms beyond our own aircraft.
About Skydweller Aero
Skydweller Aero Inc. develops and manufactures very large solar-powered autonomous aircraft designed for persistent, long-duration missions. The company’s Perpetual Flight® aircraft combine extreme endurance with substantial payload capacity for missions including persistent coverage, maritime ISR, resilient communications, and electronic warfare. Skydweller’s experience developing highly reliable autonomous aircraft has also driven the development of its advanced autonomy technology stack that supports high-reliability autonomous flight control, vehicle management, electrical systems, and actuation. Skydweller Aero is a U.S. company backed by venture and private capital, headquartered in Oklahoma City with engineering offices in US and Spain.
About Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman is a leading global aerospace and defense technology company. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with the capabilities they need to connect and protect the world, and push the boundaries of human exploration across the universe. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers’ toughest problems, our employees define possible every day.
