Sabrewing Aircraft Co. Inc. rolled out a half-sized unmanned cargo aircraft the Rhaegal-A on May 1 as part of the kick-off of the U.S. Air Force’s Agility Prime program. Ed De Reyes, chief executive of the Camarillo aviation startup, talked about the aircraft and its production model, the Rhaegal-B, during a presentation that was livestreamed to Air Force representatives. “The Rhaegal-A is strictly a test vehicle to test the ability of our engineering models to scale correctly from smaller to larger,” Reyes said during the company’s presentation. The Rhaegal-A is about half the size of the production model. Both aircraft, however, can fly at altitudes of 22,000 feet at speeds of up to 200 knots. Its turbo-electric powertrain is extremely fuel efficient and doesn’t require a charging station. After doing market research and speaking with cargo carriers, he gained an understanding and knowledge of what was needed in a cargo aircraft, Reyes said. “Our cargo UAV can take off and land like a helicopter with a heavy payload, as well as fly farther, faster and higher at a fraction of the cost of any other aircraft in its class,” Reyes said in a statement. Agility Prime is the Air Force’s program to accelerate the commercial market for advanced air mobility vehicles. The Agility Prime evaluation of Rhaegal-A includes the aircraft’s detect and avoid system, testing to determine if the aircraft can operate in an environment where GPS signals are unavailable or jammed and simulating payloads and casualty evacuation. Sabrewing received a $3.3 million Small Business Innovative Research Phase II contract under the Air Force’s AFWERX program to test its aircraft and equipment. Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, said the military branch was all in to accelerate the market for domestic use in a way that also helps the military, The size of any future Air Force purchases of a vehicle like the Rhaegal would depend on the mission that vertical takeoff and landing aircraft prove capable of carrying out, Roper added. “If it’s helping us to do logistics at the edge, we could end up buying these in higher quantities,” he said in a statement.