Dec 3, 2025 - Technology

Exclusive: Electra launches defense business as it builds new aircraft

Colin Demarest

Yellow and white Electra aircraft in a hangar with open side door, black propellers, yellow caution tape surrounding it, and stairs leading into the cabin. — A model of Electra's in-the-works EL9, seen in Virginia. Photo: Colin Demarest/Axios

Aerospace company Electra is opening a defense business amid construction of a new dual-use aircraft, the EL9.

Why it matters: Contested logistics — ferrying troops and supplies between hard-to-reach areas under fire — is a key focus.

"The military can no longer solely rely on trucks or helicopters to conduct logistics missions over long distances, and we need to preserve the efficiency of existing airlift assets," Donn Yates, vice president and general manager of Electra Defense, told Axios.

State of play: Electra Defense emerges on the heels of successful testing at Future Flag 25-3, an Air Force Research Lab event in New York.

There, Electra's EL2 demonstrated ultra-short takeoffs and landings. It also jumpstarted a General Atomics-made MQ-9 Reaper.

Zoom in: The in-the-works EL9 is designed to carry 1,000 pounds 1,000 nautical miles and get airborne in half the length of a football field. It also offers 600 kilowatts of expeditionary power.

It could, in the future, augment heftier transporters like the Boeing C-17 or the Lockheed Martin C-130. It could also be used for casualty evacuations or stealthy infiltrations or weapons replenishment.
Yates, a former fighter pilot, described the aircraft as the "Sprinter van of the skies." A mock-up Axios peeked at had seats for passengers as well as room for cargo in the back.

What's next: The EL9 is expected to begin flight testing in 2027.

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Exclusive: Electra launches defense business as it builds new aircraft

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