Vertical Aerospace has a plan to capitalize on Europe’s defense tech moment

Russia’s war in Ukraine and President Donald Trump’s reluctance to support NATO allies has led to a boost in funding for European defense tech. And across industries, startups are leveraging the opportunity. One such company could be U.K.-based startup Vertical Aerospace, which is developing eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft mainly for air-taxi operations. The startup has more than 1,500 preorders for its VX4 eVTOL from customers like American Airlines, Japan Airlines, GOL, and Bristow. Now Vertical is speaking more publicly about the opportunities in defense and logistics. On Monday, Vertical took its first public step by announcing a plan to develop a hybrid-electric variant of its VX4. “We always knew this aircraft would be defense-capable because of the nature of it,” Vertical Aerospace CEO Stuart Simpson told TechCrunch, noting the hybrid version of its eVTOL promises a range of up to 1,000 miles. That’s a tenfold increase on the eVTOL. VTOLs make for good ... Read full article.