ARS Wins SBIR Contract


Aviation Safety Resources Awarded Contract for Innovation

SBIR to Explore Potential Defense Application for ASR Technology

NICHOLASVILLE, KY (December 19, 2019) Aviation Safety Resources, Inc., (ASR) an innovative company that designs, tests and produces emergency recovery systems for the aviation and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) markets, announced today that the United States Air Force (USAF) has awarded the Company a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contract under Special Topics in the 19.3 Cycle through AFWERX and Air Force Research Lab (AFRL). Under the contract, ASR will prototype and refine a recovery system based on the Company’s proprietary eXreme Rapid Deployment (XRD) technology and identify end use customers to determine the specific UAM application(s) and performance objectives. The prototype device will be designed to meet the unique challenges associated with Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL). In particular, safe recovery at low altitude and low airspeed.

“The potential adaptation of XRD technology for Air Force applications is a natural extension of our technology, which we initially applied to address VTOL issues surrounding the emerging Urban Air Mobility market,” said Larry Williams, ASR president and CEO and veteran of the U.S. Air Force. “With our first Air Force SBIR award, we are developing an innovative system that offers critical lifesaving technology. The Air Force is a vital partner for bringing our technologies to specific platform applications. When faced with an in-flight failure in the critical VTOL mode, the ASR solution is specifically designed to provide recovery in as little as 100-feet of altitude loss, in less than 2.5-seconds.”

Bob LaFrance, ASR board member added “With a 40-plus year career in aircraft and aircrew safety systems, working specifically with ejection seats and lifesaving systems, it is gratifying to see the U.S. Air Force fund a project critical, not only to the safety of aircrews and improving their outcomes following an in-flight failure, but potentially reducing injury and saving untold numbers of lives. In my career, I all too often saw the inherent challenges of in-flight recovery. Any failure in the VTOL environment creates some of the most austere conditions imaginable. XRD, directly addresses these challenges and will deliver peace of mind to flight crews, giving them alternatives if something goes wrong. No doubt that XRD will be saving lives on and off the battlefield.”

The innovative U.S. Air Force SBIR program is designed to serve the technology needs of the Air Force. These programs, together with the people who manage them, accomplish this as part of the Air Force's technology development efforts to identify and provide advanced, affordable, and integrated technologies that keep our Air Force the best in the world.

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AFRL and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research process in order to speed up the experience, broaden the pool of potential applicants and decrease bureaucratic overhead. Beginning in SBIR 18.2, and now in 19.3, the Air Force has begun offering ‘Special’ SBIR topics that are faster, leaner and open to a broader range of innovations.

Current recovery systems commonly used in general aviation, are inadequate to address full recovery during VTOL. Even in the most controlled environment, there simply is not enough time and altitude to fill a parachute canopy without forward speed.

ASR intends to continue to find applications and platforms to use its lifesaving XRD technology to fill this unmet need for civilian and military applications.

About Aviation Safety Resources

more information, please visit www.aviationsafetyresources.com

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Larry Williams

651-428-0638 (Mobile)

606-212-2700 ext. 508 (Office) larry.williams@aviationsafetyresources.com

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 Aviation Safety Resources, Inc., based in Nicholasville, Ky., designs, tests and

 produces whole aircraft emergency recovery parachute systems designed to safely bring down the entire aircraft and its occupants in the event of an in-air emergency.

 Staffed by a team of experienced aviation professionals, ASR is the first to offer the next

 generation of whole-aircraft recovery systems and the first system specifically designed

 for the vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicles of Urban Air Mobility (

  
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