Natilus Secures $3.5 Million Air Force Contract to Advance Blended Wing Body Cargo Aircraft

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force has awarded a $3.5 million contract to aviation startup Natilus to support the development of its blended wing body (BWB) cargo aircraft, aiming to introduce a novel platform for military logistics and transport.

This latest investment marks at least the second BWB design funded by the Air Force, following a substantial $235 million commitment in 2023 to JetZero for a full-scale demonstrator. Although BWB configurations have been studied for decades, none have yet transitioned to commercial production, making these initiatives critical to breaking into the market.

“We think now is the right time for a blended wing body aircraft to make its debut,” Natilus Chief Operating Officer Nolan Giblin stated during an interview with Breaking Defense on Wednesday, the day the company officially announced the new funding.

This contract complements privately raised capital and helps de-risk critical technologies to achieve a first flight for Natilus’s KONA aircraft by late next year or early 2028. Giblin noted that this award represents the company’s first-ever U.S. government investment.

Giblin shared technical specifications for the KONA, noting it features an 85-foot wingspan and a maximum takeoff weight of 19,000 pounds. The aircraft is slated to be powered by Pratt & Whitney’s PT6 turboprop engines.

Giblin explained that the KONA is designed for distinct operational roles compared to the JetZero aircraft, which Air Force officials have suggested could serve as a platform for next-generation refueling or heavy airlift. The service continues to evaluate long-term plans for its future mobility fleet.

In contrast, the KONA is tailored for “sub-tactical lift” missions, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region, aiming to bridge the capability gap between the smaller Cessna C-208 and the larger Lockheed Martin C-130. Giblin noted that the aircraft currently does not require defense-specific modifications, as Natilus intends to offer a unified design for both military and civilian customers, with commercial clients representing the company’s primary target market.

For initial production, Natilus plans to equip the KONA with a traditional cable-and-pulley flight control system, which mechanically links the pilot’s control stick to the aircraft’s control surfaces. However, Giblin stated that the company is engineering provisions to support optionally piloted or fully autonomous operations, utilizing either an in-house autonomy stack or a third-party vendor.

Giblin also revealed that the KONA prototype is currently being assembled at Natilus’s facilities in San Diego, California, with the company targeting a full-rate production capacity of approximately five aircraft per month.

Drawing parallels to the disruptive success of SpaceX in the space industry, Giblin expressed Natilus’s ambition to do the same for aviation. He pointed out that traditional aircraft designs have largely stagnated around the conventional tube-and-wing configuration, where performance improvements typically rely on incremental advancements in propulsion systems.

“No one has really achieved that yet in the aviation sector, and that is precisely what we are striving to accomplish,” he concluded.

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