EVE Air Mobility, an aerospace company developing electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft, has announced at the Farnborough Airshow a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Embraer and BAE Systems to explore a potential order of up to 150 aircraft. The startup is already developing eVTOL for the civilian market and plans to explore the military sector through the latest intended collaboration.
Diverse application
After generating enough buzz for its planned eVTOL offerings for the civilian market, EVE Air Mobility also wants to explore other sectors. On July 19th, EVE announced at the Farnborough Airshow a non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI) with Embraer and BAE Systems to explore a potential order of up to 150 eVTOL vehicles to examine the aircraft application for the defense and security market.
Embraer and BAE Systems also signed a separate Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the airshow to potentially form a joint venture to collaboratively develop an innovative defense eVTOL variant using Eve's platform.
Jackson Schneider, President and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security, commented,
“Teams from BAE Systems and Embraer will continue working together to explore how the aircraft, designed for the urban mobility market, can provide cost-effective, sustainable, and adaptable capability as a defense variant.”
Defense variant
Customer diversification is definitely on the agenda when it comes to the development of the eVTOL aircraft. Embraer and BAE Systems first announced plans to collaborate on developing Eve's eVTOL for the defense market in December 2021.
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Ian Muldowney, Chief Operating Officer of BAE Systems Air, says that eVTOL is just one example of how they're looking at emerging technologies, including those from the commercial market. They are exploring ways to adapt these solutions to bring vital operational capability to their customers quickly and at a lower cost – while also being mindful of sustainability goals.
Andre Stein, Co-CEO of EVE, explained how these eVTOLs could be adapted to meet various essential applications in the defense and military market, such as humanitarian response and disaster relief.
Stein also added that the defense market could be more sustainable and, at the same time, allow Eve to remain focused on exploring the Urban Air Mobility market.
Backlog of almost 2,000 eVTOLs
Several airlines have shown interest in the project, such as Kenya Airways' subsidiary, Fahari Aviation, which signed an LOI of up to 40 eVTOLS from EVE. UAE-based luxury charter specialist Falcon Aviation Services has also signed a letter of intent for up to 35 Embraer EVE eVTOL air taxis, with deliveries beginning in four years.
Of course, the present order, once confirmed, will further increase EVE's current order of EVTOLs, which at the moment stands at more than 1,900 aircraft, the largest within the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) industry.
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