Uncrewed aircraft are becoming more important to militaries, and defense departments are increasingly looking to air-taxi companies for help.
Beta Technologies unveiled the MV250, an autonomous hybrid-electric cargo aircraft, at the Farnborough Airshow in July. Business Insider was there to see why the company believes it could be a valuable tool for the future battlefield.
Beta initially focused on civil electric aircraft. But as militaries seek new ways to move supplies amid increasingly autonomous warfare, Beta has adapted its technology for a new customer.
The MV250 can take off and land vertically, fly without a pilot aboard, and carry up to a ton of cargo into dangerous areas.
Here’s what it’s like, and why it matters.
Beta Technologies is one of several firms building air taxis — electric aircraft that can take off and land vertically.
These eVTOLs operate like helicopters but make very little noise. So, they wouldn’t annoy residents when flying over cities.
Beta is also building an electric aircraft that takes off and lands conventionally, known as a CTOL.
Earlier this year, Beta deployed its all-electric ALIA CTOL aircraft during NATO Exercise Aurora 26 in Sweden.
It then adapted that technology into a military aircraft, the MV250.
It is a hybrid-electric aircraft that can take off vertically and fly autonomously.
“Why do we all want autonomy? I’m a pilot. No pilot wants to see their job go away,” said Gen. Jim McConville, a former chief of staff of the US Army and a Beta board member.
“But what we want to do is give commanders the ability to go into situations at extremely high risk.”
For example, in Ukraine, aerial drones and ground robots are increasingly being used for logistics missions that have become too dangerous for soldiers.
Ukrainian officials have said that they want machines to eventually handle 100% of battlefield logistics amid a broader push to replace humans with robotics wherever possible.
Instead of carrying pilots or passengers, it can transport up to a ton of cargo.
The MV250’s nose opens to reveal a cargo bay capable of carrying up to 2,000 pounds of equipment, medical supplies, munitions, or other critical cargo.
Beta says it can take that payload to destinations within a 250-nautical-mile tactical radius, roughly 288 miles, and return to base.
Beta says hybrid-electric power means it can fly faster and farther than a helicopter.
A turbogenerator developed with GE Aerospace produces electricity for the MV250’s motors.
As well as the 1,300-nautical-mile repositioning range — when it isn’t carrying a payload — Beta says it can generate power on the ground for equipment such as radar, antennas, and other vehicles.
Beta says its bonded-composite fuselage could speed up production.
The MV250’s fuselage is bonded together rather than held with conventional fasteners.
“That allows us to make this in a panini press, basically,” Clark said. “You can make it inexpensively and meet the demands of the military.”
Beta says manufacturing cycle times could be measured in hours rather than months.
It has also designed the aircraft without gearboxes, hydraulics, or articulating rotors, systems that can add maintenance demands.
During earlier military exercises with Beta’s all-electric aircraft, Clark said the company sent one maintainer and one pilot — and “the maintainer was bored.”
Beta thinks military demand could develop faster than the air-taxi market.
Beta developed the technology behind the MV250 for civilian electric aircraft, but Clark said defense customers may adopt vertical-lift technology sooner.
“Near-term defense, I think, will take a pace in front of civil in vertical lift, and then civil will overtake that,” he said.
Defense dominated this year’s Farnborough Airshow as governments are growing more concerned about security.
Defense companies made up about half of the roughly 1,600 exhibitors at this year’s airshow, up from the roughly 40% share they usually represent. The event drew over 140,000 visitors, a 41% increase on the last edition in 2024.
The shift reflects a scramble to rearm as wars have reshaped military priorities, including the need for cheaper drones, autonomous systems, and new ways to move supplies.
NATO allies have also committed to raising defense and security-related spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, after President Donald Trump pressed them to spend more.
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