The U.S. Air Force has awarded Natilus $3.5 million in research, development, test and evaluation funding to advance its KONA regional freighter towards full-scale flight testing and a Joint Force demonstration focused on contested logistics. The 3.8-ton, optionally piloted blended-wing-body aircraft is being developed for dual-use commercial cargo and military logistics missions.
The award is being provided through Operational Energy–Innovation and the Department of the Air Force, via the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Energy, Installations and Environment. It is intended to accelerate KONA’s development towards an operationally relevant demonstration in environments where conventional logistics infrastructure or crewed aircraft could face heightened risk.
Natilus is positioning KONA as a smaller regional airlift platform for distributed logistics, with optional piloting supporting potential use in contested operating conditions. The aircraft’s blended-wing-body configuration is also intended to support commercial cargo operations, giving the programme a dual-use development path.
The first full-scale KONA flight is targeted for 2028. The funding supports development and testing rather than aircraft procurement, operational deployment or completed flight testing. Specific details of the award period, test location, demonstration date, participating Air Force unit and performance requirements have not been disclosed.