RapidFlight completes $10M AFWERX program milestone deeming the SPX unmanned aircraft fully operational

RapidFlight, designer and additive manufacturer of attritable, mission-customized, mass-producible drones, successfully demonstrated its ability to rapidly design, manufacture, and deploy the SPX, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), to Autonomy Prime specifications in less than 90 days. This was a first deliverable under RapidFlight's $10 million contract with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) AFWERX Autonomy Prime program. The work under the contract culminated with successful three-day training effort followed by USAF-operated flights at Airlie Airfield in Warrenton, Virginia last month.

This project milestone follows the June 2024 announcement that RapidFlight was tasked with delivering a rapidly customizable, mission oriented, autonomous, fixed-wing UAV to address urgent Department of Defense requirements. The contract positioned RapidFlight as a key partner in the U.S. Air Force's modernization efforts, leveraging the company's proprietary AgileAviation process to rapidly design and manufacture mission-ready aircraft.

RapidFlight demonstrated its ability to swiftly deploy SPX, a clean-sheet aircraft, fully designed and manufactured to customer specified mission requirements. RapidFlight then trained USAF personnel in just three days to successfully fly and operate the aircraft. This milestone marks a new chapter for the SPX platform as a deployable asset for the U.S., other DoD customers, and their allies.

"The SPX demo is a testament to the innovation and collaboration achieved at an incredibly fast pace," said Bennett Steward, AFWERX program manager, discussing the program's progress. "This approach to rapid and modular UAS design and manufacturing shows promise in enhancing Air Force operations, especially as small UAS technologies become increasingly relevant for military strategies and objectives."

"This milestone showcases RapidFlight's ability to deliver superior solutions quickly and to the exacting specifications of ever-evolving national defense needs," said Mike Uffelman, director of growth at RapidFlight. "The SPX's compliance with key legislative requirements—2020 NDAA Section 848 and 2023 NDAA Section 817—ensures the USAF is equipped with safe, reliable, and high-performance UAS technology. More importantly, the success of this collaboration demonstrates a new type of workflow between contractor and the military that will enable the US Armed Forces and its allies to more readily respond to evolving unmanned battlefield dynamics."