Vertical Aerospace names seating and navigation suppliers for Valo eVTOL

Vertical Aerospace has signed long-term supplier agreements covering seating and navigation equipment for its Valo electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft.

South Korea-based ANH Structure will design, develop, certify and manufacture the aircraft's pilot, observer and passenger seats. The company will provide a common seating platform built around its proprietary 30G energy-absorption technology, and will work from detailed design through certification, industrialisation and serial production. It holds Design Organisation Approval and Production Organisation Approval from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.

Germany-based Northrop Grumman LITEF will supply its LCR-110 inertial reference system, which gives position, attitude and heading data to flight-critical systems. The unit is approved to the applicable EASA and US Federal Aviation Administration technical standards for inertial reference equipment.

Stuart Simpson, chief executive of Vertical Aerospace, said Valo is moving from design into an aircraft backed by the people, systems and industrial capability required for certification and production at scale. He said both suppliers bring specialist expertise and strong certification credentials.

The size of the agreements and their financial terms were not disclosed.