Natilus unveils Horizon blended wing body aircraft
San Diego startup Natilus has unveiled its ambitious blended wing body (BWB) aircraft design, with the ‘Horizon’ designed to emit 50% less carbon, provide 40% greater capacity, and be 25% lighter than the traditional tube-and-wing aircraft of today.
“As the aviation industry seeks effective solutions to modernize fleets and enhance sustainability, our dedicated team has invested countless hours developing the Horizon to be a real solution and to fit seamlessly into existing airport operations,” explained Natilus. Crucially, the aircraft will be engineered to be compatible with existing airport gate operations and infrastructure.
The passenger-carrying Horizon (with capacity for up to 200) builds on the company’s first BWB design, the short-haul cargo ‘Kona’ concept, which will carry a payload of 3.8 metric tons in its proprietary diamond-shaped cargo bay in the aircraft’s nose. Its range is stated as around 900 nautical miles.
However, Natilus is not the only blended-wing concept seeking to adopt an entirely new aircraft architecture. In 2020, Airbus unveiled its ‘Maveric’ blended-wing concept, with its remote-controlled scale model developed as part of its Airbus UpNext project. “Maveric’s blended wing body configuration is a potential game changer… and we’re keen to push the technology to the limit”.
The US Air Force, in collaboration with JetZero and Northrop Grumman, is also evaluating the BWB concept; with the latter explaining that “several military transport configurations may also be possible with BWB aircraft, offering the ability to move forces and cargo quickly, efficiently and over long distances”.
