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Advanced / Transformational Technology

Army To Test And Evaluate Elroy Air’s Hybrid-Electric VTOL Under New Contract

By Cal Biesecker

Wednesday, August 19th, 2026

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Army To Test And Evaluate Elroy Air’s Hybrid-Electric VTOL Under New Contract

Elroy Air's Chaparral autonomous hybrid-electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. Photo: Elroy Air

The Army this week awarded a $46.1 million contract to Elroy Air to test and experiment with the company’s Chaparral autonomous hybrid-electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft for heavy cargo operations to ensure the drone can be easily used by soldiers in various environments. The San Francisco-based company on Tuesday said the firm-fixed-price Phase III Small Business Innovation Research award builds on two other Army contracts the past two years to improve the Group 4 unmanned aircraft system’s ability…

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