When the notion for what is now AFWERX's Agility Prime program was first discussed, we spent a lot of time talking about THIS. We were frequently asked the question, "why not a helicopter?" The thing the askers were missing was that it wasn't JUST about the flying machine. It was about the transformative innovations that come with a flying machine that is fundamentally different than any we use today. For those of us that grew up with the Jetson's, we all have some vision for what life is like with flying cars. While we may disagree on where this will land, and there are likely things none of us have thought of yet, as Adam is eluding to here, the fact is that there is infrastructure and an industry that will grow around this kind of innovation. There will be secondary and tertiary industries that wouldn't have been considered in the absence of access to flying cars.
From a Federal/Tax Payers perspective, it was never just about the flying car at all, really. Our focus was on the industry that would evolve with a domestic market for flying cars. It's innovation, it's new accessibilities, it's new opportunity, it's job growth, it's economic development. In fact, early concepts for the Agility Prime program included accelerators and investments tied to the support industry and infrastructure required to tip the scales in favor of the economic development we hoped to inspire.
For national security, it's about having an edge. About being first, and having the economy that benefits most from that win. It's also about NOT expending the disproportionate resources tied to combating a situation where the market for innovation technology did not collapse domestically. Do we know precisely how the military would use such a tool? I'm not sure. Though I believe a lot of deep thinking has happened since 2019, "Why not a helicopter?" may be a perfectly reasonable response. But it was never really about just replacing a helicopter.
This is a fascinating team, and I love seeing the progress of the many teams pushing the boundaries for the eVOTL revolution! Do hard things. Change the world.
Will Roper Nathan P. Diller Megan VanHorn
🎙️ Flying cars, mountain lairs, electrifying the skies, re-drawing our city limits, and the future of flight with Archer. Daniel Darling and I covered a lot of interesting ground together on his podcast, 5 Year Frontier.
Give it a listen here:
Spotify - https://lnkd.in/g9VBHV4p
Apple Podcasts - https://lnkd.in/gFKRg2Wm
YouTube - https://lnkd.in/gCFWUkXw
