Today’s aviation companies meet challenges much like their predecessors. They work a problem from multiple perspectives and persevere until they find a solution. Like Michael Duke, CEO of DBT Aero, aviators try to bring “aircraft to the marketplace that can safely, quietly and affordably fly farther, faster, and carry more than any other aircraft currently available”. Aviation companies are doing just that as they redefine expectations and transform their industry, and the special missions sector is both incidentally rewarded and targeted as an area for specific design and growth.

Thinking outside the (double) box

For Duke, the rapid advances in artificial intelligence, composite manufacturing, 3D printing, electric motors and increased battery capacity could bring aviation and aircraft ownership into the mainstream. He wanted to adapt these technologies into something completely new.

Duke’s search led him to the Synergy aircraft and its ‘double box tail’ (DBT) design. Performing like a high-aspect-ratio wing mated with a laminar flow fuselage, the design offers increased lift and reduced drag. The DBT has excellent glide characteristics, giving pilots more options in emergency scenarios. Made with lightweight, composite materials, the DBT craft can carry additional payload, and its components can be built with a 3D printer. The power plant is in the aft portion of the aircraft, which gives the pilot greater visibility. Duke was so taken with the concept that he named his new company for it.

DBT Aero has targeted the air ambulance market as its initial commercial venture, aiming for faster, higher and greater range than a helicopter

DBT Aero has targeted the air ambulance market as its initial commercial venture, aiming for faster, higher and greater range than a helicopter. While not as fast as a jet, DBT is comparable to a PC-12 turboprop from a speed standpoint.

Duke believes the DBT will revolutionize aviation. The design is scalable, works for all types of aircraft, from small drones to wide-bodies, and can accommodate any power plant, including electric motors. According to DBT Aero, the DBT design improves overall aircraft efficiency by 29%, making the aircraft more sustainable. An electric version can have a useful range nearly double that of any other electric aircraft currently in development, and the efficiency of it means that it uses less energy, its carbon footprint is smaller, and it requires less infrastructure for support. The cost saving and scalability make this design an attractive prospect for DBT’s target air ambulance audience, as well as general and business aviation customers.

Breaking gridlock with advanced air mobility

By far the largest number of different stakeholders looking into a sea change in aviation are the advanced air mobility and particularly the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) sector. Design, development and investment in eVTOLs are off the charts with startups and legacy original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) all exploring this sector to supplement (or supersede) the traditional helicopter and rotorcraft space. Airbus is developing the CityAirbus NextGen, Leonardo shelved its Project Zero before collaborating with Vertical Aerospace on the VX4, Bell has its Nexus program, Sikorsky’s working on HEX, Embraer has Eve Air Mobility, and there are companies like Joby Aviation, Volocopter, DaVinci, BETA Technologies, EHang, and many, many more.

Mostly aimed at an alternative to urban taxis, where the heavily congested ground traffic can mean that road transport can take hours to travel a relatively short distance, eVTOLs promise to provide a quick and quiet solution to this problem. Understandably, helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) operators see this option as a game-changer to get emergency medical care to patients quickly, and to also possibly then transfer them to hospital when alternatives could get delayed in traffic with disastrous results.

The applications particularly for air medical uses of eVTOLs have been recognized. In the last year and a half alone, ADAC Luftrettung has had trials with Volocopter’s VoloCity as an option for rapidly deploying a pre-hospital doctor to a scene of a medical emergency; Norwegian Air Ambulance has partnered with Airbus on the CityAirbus NextGen to plan the steps to develop the necessary ‘ecosystem’ to support the introduction of eVTOLs into the air medical sector; Great Western Air Ambulance Charity met with Vertical to see how the VX4 might be used in future to enhance the provision of HEMS; Life Flight New Zealand has partnered with AMSL Aero to provide feedback for air medical applications of the Vertiia craft; Jump Aero launched its JA1 Pulse, designed to rapidly bring a single pilot-paramedic to the scene of a medical emergency in rural areas, with an order from Falck Ambulance Services; and EHang has been working with a university hospital in Shandong to explore the feasibility of an uncrewed ambulance solution, and also has designs of a firefighting variant of its EH216-S.

Harald Jøsendal, the eVTOL Project Manager with Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation, explained the considerations that are being made at this stage of development: “We are in an early phase, and we don’t have all the answers. Together with Airbus, the Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation is looking at how eVTOLs can be used in the emergency air medical health service. An eVTOL will probably not be used to transport patients to hospitals in the first place, but they can, for example, fly critical medical personnel, defibrillators and medicines out to the patient very quickly. In this project we are looking into two possible geographical areas:

• In the cities, where the [ground] ambulances struggle with queues and rush hour traffic when it is urgent. The medical helicopter is a highly capable but scarce resource that cannot land anywhere at any time in urban areas. Perhaps first help can arrive faster and more efficiently if the doctor moves out in a dedicated electric aircraft
• In rural areas along the coast we find many islands where the journey time can be long. Can an eVTOL become the ‘medical boat’ of the future between the islands?

  Together with Airbus, the Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation is looking at how eVTOLs can be used in the emergency air medical health service

“In the development project, there are three things that we want to explore, in priority order: 1. How much does the addition of eVTOLs in the air medical services provide a benefit for the patient? 2. To what extent does it contribute to greener aviation and sustainability? and 3. How will it improve the emergency air medical health service efficiency?”

Mark Johnston, Chief Executive Officer of Life Flight New Zealand, concurred that eVTOLs can fit into a complementary niche between ground and current air ambulances, and provide a more environmentally friendly form of transport. He also highlighted another growing problem facing air ambulance organizations that alternatives to traditional craft may help solve: “We’re very excited about being AMSL Aero’s first New Zealand development partner and the potential that Vertiia offers the local air medical sector. We’re thrilled to be partnering with an Australasian manufacturer that understands the challenges of operating in both Australian and New Zealand conditions.

“Life Flight had more than a 20% jump in air medical mission numbers last year and is currently on track for a further 25% increase this year – that’s almost double the number of air ambulance missions in just two years, and proof of the growing reliance of Kiwis on our services. Most of our air medical flights are generally within 45 minutes’ flying time from our two bases, potentially providing an ideal flight profile for alternative fuel sources, particularly hydrogen fuel cells. Hydrogen-powered aircraft, such as AMSL Aero’s Vertiia, offer air ambulance operators the potential to significantly reduce our emissions footprint, complementing New Zealand’s existing fleet of air ambulances with state-of-the-art aircraft that are both cheaper to operate and kinder to the environment.”

Most eVTOL designers and manufacturers are focused on a generic craft that can then be adapted for medical services and modified for other special missions after the base model. However, there is a German startup, ERC System, that is building an eVTOL that is a dedicated medical transport vehicle, and has partnered with a Bavarian regional health system and air rescue company to ensure that the design is fit for purpose.

Price has often been a factor when special missions operators have been looking to purchase or upgrade their aircraft, so a price point that is in the affordable and scalable range would mean that smaller operators, public services and charities would be able to compete and be involved early in uptake for this alternative method of transport. Eric Allison, Joby Aviation’s Chief Product Officer, said that Joby plans to “make air travel at a small scale something virtually anyone can do”. In plainer terms, it wants to make using air taxis as easy as taking an Uber and with a similar price point.

A recurring complaint regarding urban helicopter use has been the noise pollution, and quieter electric aircraft also address this issue to a degree. Allison emphasized how quiet the Joby air taxi is: “If it flew directly over you at a thousand feet, you would never hear it.” After recent investment from Toyota, and agreements signed in Dubai, they expect to begin operating an air taxi service as soon as this year, signifying a very real development of advanced air mobility towards special missions.

Casevac: remote rescues when options are scarce

Anyone else who has risked life and limb in dangerous situations understands that the very nature of their activities makes it very challenging to reach them and help them should they suffer an injury or otherwise need assistance. Expecting a rescue team to fly into a combat zone or wildfire presents a significant risk that they may become casualties as well. Should such risks be ignored? Should the injured or stranded party be abandoned?

Malloy Aeronautics, part of BAE Systems, specializing in innovative heavy-lift drone and aeronautical technologies, has a solution for this dilemma. It has designed the T-650 heavy-lift drone with a pod for casualty evacuation (casevac), which Neil Appleton, CEO of Malloy, said offers “a lifesaving capability that could not otherwise be achieved by traditional means, e.g. helicopter evacuation”.

Rapid advances in uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) capabilities have taken the T-650 from the realm of science fiction and made it both a practical and perhaps even an inevitable reality

Rapid advances in uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) capabilities have taken the T-650 from the realm of science fiction and made it both a practical and perhaps even an inevitable reality. Although still in development, the T-650 provides a structurally sound medium for transporting and protecting an injured person or casualty from pickup to dropoff. It has a maximum range of 30km (~20 miles), a maximum speed of about 87 miles per hour, and carries a maximum payload of just over 650lb. It has the potential to accommodate a wide range of customer requirements, including features such as soundproofing, ballistic protection, temperature management, patient communications, and so on.

In addition to its obvious applications for medical and search and rescue (SAR) operations, the T-650 casevac platform is being developed to adapt to a wide range of other uses such as anti-submarine warfare, surveillance and mining countermeasures. Initial efforts will focus on military applications, but the T-650 could be an invaluable asset in civilian casualty movement in rural or very remote areas where other transport options are not available or advisable.

ARTEMIS, goddess of the hunt

Imagine a device that can tell emergency rescue teams precisely where to go. What if this device could also establish direct, two-way communication between the rescuers and the people needing help? With ARTEMIS, you can.

Peter Myers, Director and Co-Founder of Smith Myers, explains that ARTEMIS accurately “locates mobile telephones in low light and poor weather conditions at ranges up to 22 miles, even in areas where there is no cellular coverage or the coverage has been degraded due to natural disasters. It is automated, quick and accurate There is nothing else like it.”

Eschewing traditional direction finding as too slow and inaccurate over long ranges and requiring multiple antennas, ARTEMIS utilizes two independent and proprietary geolocation techniques, one based on GPS and the other on the cellular protocol. Both techniques are deployed automatically, and are quick and highly accurate, using just two small antennas. ARTEMIS works in isolation from the real cellular network and does not require any assistance from the mobile network operators.

ARTEMIS needs only a cell phone that is turned on to function effectively. In essence, ARTEMIS provides a mobile cell tower capable of detecting and locating hundreds of phones simultaneously. This makes it invaluable not only for SAR missions, but for many other applications as well. For example, when mass evacuations for hurricanes or wildfires are ordered, ARTEMIS can instantly identify everyone who may still be in the area, communicate their locations to police and emergency responders, and even communicate directly with those people.
They just need to have their cell phones turned on. ARTEMIS is fully integrated with first responder command and control tools such as ATAK.

Artemis can operate as a standalone device, or easily integrated with existing avionics

Artemis can operate as a standalone device, or easily integrated with existing avionics, such as electro-optical/infrared sensors and any mission system.

Many countries around the world have adopted the ARTEMIS System. Norway’s SAR teams use ARTEMIS in around 80% of their missions and have been so impressed that they suggested eliminating ‘search’ from their title because ARTEMIS makes locating downed climbers and injured hikers so quick and simple. Because of its groundbreaking innovation and applications in special missions, ARTEMIS earned Smith Myers the 2024 King’s Award for Innovation in the UK.

Stopping the spin: improving hoist operations

For far too long, helicopter hoist operators had to account for spin.

Not only does spin detrimentally impact the overall hoist operation, but it can also exacerbate injuries and create additional risks to both the person being rescued and anyone who might assist them. Additionally, in utility operations, large objects such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) units spinning on a hoist cable can pose significant hazards to everyone involved.

Not only does spin detrimentally impact the overall hoist operation, but it can also exacerbate injuries and create additional risks to both the person being rescued and anyone who might assist them

Vita Aerospace recognizes that conventional helicopter hoisting is imprecise, time-consuming, and inherently risky, and its response is the Vita Rescue System - Litter Attachment (VRS-LA) device. Charley Shimanski, the former Director of Training at Air Rescue Systems, explained the situation: “Helicopters produce rotor flow, which can induce significant unwanted movement of any human external cargo (HEC) beneath the aircraft. This includes spin, pendulum, and oscillation, each of which presents its own unique problem. The VRS-LA eliminates this unwanted movement before it can occur.

“The VRS-LA provides a dynamic stabilization approach to hoist operations. The propulsion-driven device connects to most rescue kits and can be autonomously and manually controlled. Measuring over 1,000 data points per second, the system detects real-time movement and adjusts the load with high-powered fans to eliminate unwanted movement.”

The VRS-LA comes with two proprietary lithium iron phosphate batteries which are Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rated and powerful enough to manage eight to 16 hoist operations before a 30-minute recharge. The VRS system is designed for fast battery swaps, which can be completed in under 30 seconds within the aircraft, if needed.

Shimanski summarized: “Any unwanted movement in a hoist operation increases the risks for all concerned. The VRS eliminates such risks, stabilizing and precisely directing loads, while reducing hoist times. It’s a game-changer for hoist operations.”

State-of-the-art legacy platforms and aircraft

It isn’t just drones and eVTOLs that are shaking up and improving the provision of special missions. Legacy craft are getting upgrades and technological advancements all the time, and it is an iterative process. The Subaru Bell 412EPX has its roots firmly within the Huey family of craft going back to the late 1950s, but it is a thoroughly modern helicopter that has the latest designs and equipment to supply the needs required from a special missions operator, such as a larger cabin, better hot and high flight characteristics, higher useful load, glass cockpit with helicopter terrain avoidance warning system (HTAWS) capability, etc., which is probably why the Japan Coast Guard recently ordered more of this platform for its maritime security, SAR, and disaster response missions.

When choosing an aircraft that will ultimately be used to save lives, special missions operators are often at the forefront of finding the right technology and modifications that will make their craft best suited to perform these duties. In an example of leading the way, Memorial Hermann Life Flight became the first organization in the world to use the Airbus H160 for HEMS. The platform is a relatively new one for Airbus, with deliveries of the base model beginning in 2021, and the French armed forces ordering 169 of the military variant. Using this craft for HEMS is a decision that is supported by having the largest cabin in its class, low levels of vibration and relative quietness.

Many operators do not dedicate their craft to just one mission type, but perform missions on a case-by-case basis

Multi-role utility is also a demand made from many special missions craft. Many operators do not dedicate their craft to just one mission type, but perform missions on a case-by-case basis: there are aircraft that may be used for police patrol but can be requisitioned for aerial firefighting, or HEMS craft that also perform SAR duties, for instance. The military has a high demand for multi-role craft that can be used in situations that include medevac, troop transport, SAR, surveillance and numerous other support roles. Looking to modernize its fleet of multi-role helicopters, the Royal Malaysian Air Force has just chosen the Leonardo AW149 to replace its aging S-61A-4 Nuri helicopters. The AW149 comes with a wealth of modern technologies that will help in special missions environments, particularly in combat scenarios, including rotor blades resistant to ballistic impacts, self-sealing fuel tanks, an integrated defense system, and crash-resistant fuselage, seats, and landing gear. It also comes with avionics that are night vision compatible to allow for 24-hour operations.

Well versed in cutting-edge aircraft is Swiss Air-Rescue Rega, which took possession of three specially modified Bombardier Challenger 650s in 2018/19 and recently started using an ultra-advanced Level D full-flight simulator for training – the first of its kind in Europe. Rega’s team of pilots, flight physicians, intensive care flight nurses and engineers collaborated to take a brand new Challenger 650 and customize it with a bespoke medical interior.

“The interior of an ambulance jet cannot simply be chosen from a catalogue. We have to design it specially,” said Adrian Schindler, Head of Information and Media at Rega. One example of the considerations that have to be made when designing the inside of an air ambulance is the addition of special patient beds, which Rega chose to make wider and more comfortable than standard, as well as adding further adjustability to raise patients’ legs, which “is a major advantage, especially for back injuries,” said Schindler. The latest in medical interiors on a state-of-the-art modern jet is essential for Rega as patient safety is its top priority and being able to provide first-class intensive care unit-level facilities can only be done using the latest tools and aircraft.

One example of the considerations that have to be made when designing the inside of an air ambulance is the addition of special patient beds

Better outcomes for special missions

These are just a few of the current and future plans that are affecting the aerial special missions sector. There isn’t time or space to go into all the medical drones that are trialing automated delivery of medicines and laboratory samples, or all the latest iterations of extant conventional aircraft platforms being used, or even all the groundbreaking equipment and avionics that are improving safety and operational efficiency. Safe to say, though, that as we begin the new year, development, change and improvement will continue to provide us with a bright and better future.