Calendar - Aurora Flight Sciences · research and remote sensing. The Drive for Runway Independence Whether it’s by land or sea, Aurora is developing runway-independent unmanned

2017 Calendar 2016 Annual Report

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Expanding Flight Operations

In 2016, Aurora continued to expand Contractor-Owned Contractor-Operated (COCO) flight services, mostly using our Centaur Optionally-Piloted Aircraft (OPA) fleet. Last spring, the Centaur OPA helped make National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) gravity data collection more efficient, affordable and environmentally friendly through the Gravity for the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum (GRAV-D) program.

As a result of that success, Aurora was contracted to jointly perform gravity survey operations with Micro-G Lacoste in California in support of the CA High-Speed Rail project. Equipped with Micro-G’s gravimeter sensor, Centaur gathered data along the proposed rail lines in Northern and Southern California to help planners develop a comprehensive model of the earth’s structure along the proposed route, particularly around numerous fault lines, for better planning and engineering of the rail system.

Also in the fall, we partnered with OCEARCH, a world-leading marine conservation organization, to provide aerial support locating and tracking great white sharks off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts. In addition, we also flew a number of customer-developed communications and remote sensing packages using Centaur. In 2017, we plan to continue these important operations by implementing the first maritime patrol demonstration with Orion.

Large Wins Drive Growth and Expansion

2016 began with a win that would expand Aurora’s reputation as a world-class prime contractor. Following a hard-fought two-year competition, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) selected Aurora to build America’s next “X-Plane.” We are honored to have as our partners and major subcontractors on this program Rolls-Royce North America and Honeywell. The X-Plane announcement generated thousands of media hits including a feature by CNN stating that “the world’s top aeronautical engineers” had been selected to build and fly this revolutionary aircraft. Our LightningStrike, a hybrid-electric unmanned aircraft, combines vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability with high-speed forward flight and hover efficiency. Just weeks after being selected to build America’s newest experimental plane (rumored to be christened the XV-16A), Aurora flew a subscale vehicle demonstrator of the aircraft, successfully demonstrating the distributed hybrid-electric propulsion technology and the flight control system for the new X-Plane.

This historic achievement was soon followed by another great accolade when Aurora won Aviation Week’s 2016 Laureate Award in the Innovation category. In recognition of its world record breaking 80-hour flight, the Orion long-endurance unmanned aircraft was named the top aviation innovation

of the year. Having our work recognized with an Aviation Week Laureate Award was an important milestone for Aurora Flight Sciences. Orion continued to work away this year towards its Military Flight Authorization, which will allow the Block 1 version to move into low-rate production.

The X-Plane subscale aircraft weighs 325 pounds and is a 20% scale flight model of the full-scale demonstrator Aurora is

building for DARPA.

2016Annual Report

to Shareholders, Employees, Customers and StakeholdersWith an unprecedented twelve different aircraft under simultaneous development, Aurora is now the place to be for engineers wanting to play a leading role in the development of advanced aircraft designs enabled by autonomy. One of the top program awards in 2016 was a contract from NASA to further study and detail Aurora’s D8 aircraft concept. An ultra-efficient subsonic commercial airliner, D8 will usher in a new era of efficiency and affordability in commercial air travel. While not exactly an

“unmanned airliner,” the D8 will combine all our advances in autonomy to allow single-pilot airline operations.

Building on our legacy as a leader in solar-powered aircraft, Aurora is continuing to develop an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that will stay aloft for months at a time, 12 miles above the earth’s surface. Through the integration of solar cells, the Odysseus aircraft is powered during the day while simultaneously charging the batteries for sustained flight through the night. Our immediate goal is to break the world aircraft endurance record by the end of 2018. Longer term applications include communications relay, scientific research and remote sensing.

The Drive for Runway Independence

Whether it’s by land or sea, Aurora is developing runway-independent unmanned solutions for a variety of operational needs. The SideArm launch and recovery system is well suited for both land and maritime missions, allowing operators to deploy and retrieve a large fixed-wing UAV in remote locations without access to a runway. In development under contract by DARPA, the SideArm program achieved a number of milestones in 2016, culminating with a successful launch and capture in October.

Another team that delivered impressive results on contractual and program objectives last year is Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS). Phase II of the DARPA-funded program required the team to develop an automated flight

Diverse Programs are Powered by Diverse Teams

Aurora plays a strong role in giving back to the communities where we live and work. Our people participate in local philanthropic efforts as well as support our STEM education initiatives worldwide. The Team America Rocketry Challenge, Women in Aviation’s (WIA) Girls in

Aviation Day and the U.S. Junior Space Modeling competition are just a few of the aviation education activities that the Aurora team supported this year. At Aurora we actively strive to increase diversity in the aerospace workforce and are proud to continue building ours as the company grows.

Driving all our accomplishments as a company are the teams of dynamic and highly skilled people we bring together. Each quarter we celebrate an individual nominated by their peers for their outstanding work as winners of Aurora’s Exceptional Service Award.

Pictured above (left to right): Q1 Winner: Gerry Jacobs, Lead Technician at Aurora’s West Virginia facility; Q2 Winner: Melissa Dominguez, Avionics Engineer for the LightningStrike program in Manassas; Q3 Winner: Amanda Tucker, Materials

Control Supervisor in Mississippi; Q4 Winner: Andrew Kehlenbeck, Flight Control Engineer in Manassas.

Building Our Infrastructure

The growth in programs and employees must be matched by the facilities to house them and the tools to make them productive. In the summer of 2016, we expanded our European office in Lucerne, Switzerland which now serves as a customer support center, business development hub, and engineering center of excellence. We’ve also reached another significant milestone by celebrating the 10 year anniversary of our Research and Development Center located in Cambridge,

system with the ability to be integrated into multiple platforms. Aurora successfully demonstrated the ALIAS technology on three separate aircraft, from three original equipment manufacturers, in less than 12 months.

Effectively demonstrating the technology we develop is an important aspect of our work at Aurora. In addition to SideArm and ALIAS achievements, the Autonomous Aerial Cargo Utility System (AACUS) program held a number of successful demonstrations in 2016. Contracted by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), AACUS enables rapid cargo delivery to Marines in the field by unmanned VTOL systems. To date, Aurora has demonstrated our AACUS technology on a Boeing H-6U and three separate Bell 206 helicopters. ONR is currently funding Aurora to develop an optionally piloted version of the UH-1, integrate it with our Tactical Autonomous Aerial Logistics System (TALOS) and demonstrate in 2017.

Manufacturing in America

Aurora continues to grow our aerostructures manufacturing capability, working with top-tier customers such as Northrop Grumman, Lockheed-Sikorsky, Gulfstream, Bell and Harris. In 2016, we were pleased to again be selected as a Sikorsky Gold Supplier for our work on their programs. In addition, Aurora’s AS9100C-certified Quality Management System met the full requirements of FAA Part 21 Subpart G on the primary structure we manufacture for the Gulfstream G-500, upholding our portion of the aircraft’s certification program. Our West Virginia and Mississippi plants achieved zero late customer deliveries, even as we implemented SAP ByDesign to lay the foundation for our future growth. Our focus is increasingly on robotic manufacturing and inspection, with continuing work in additive manufacturing processes. At Aurora, we advance manufacturing every day.

Sincerely,

John S. LangfordChairman and CEOAurora Flight Sciences Corporation

John Langford with Editor-in-Chief of Aviation Week & Space Technology Joe Anselmo at the

Laureate Awards Gala.

Aurora’s Vince Posbic, Brian Yutko and Clint Church represent the D8 team at NASA’s

Technology Day on the Hill event.

Chief Engineer Sam Schweighart’s smile says it all after a successful SideArm launch and capture test.

The Aurora-sponsored Amory Rocket Team from Amory, Mississippi, placed 14th at the

2016 Team America Rocketry Challenge finals.

Aurora and other partners hosted more than 50 young girls at the Manassas Regional Airport for the WAI 2016 Girls in Aviation Day. (Photo: Al Jefferson)

Aurora Swiss Aerospace employees at the Lucerne, Switzerland, office grand opening.

Massachusetts. In Manassas, we opened two new facilities – a large hangar complex (“FlightWorks”) to house SideArm and Orion, and an overflow facility at Innovation Drive. Work has begun on the design of a large expansion to our engineering operations with a new Robotics Laboratory (location to be determined). Additionally, after a careful search, Puerto Rico was chosen as the test base for Aurora’s next phase of flight testing.

We also welcomed a major new investor to the Aurora family this year: Enlightenment Capital of Chevy Chase, Maryland. Led by Devin Talbott and Pierre Chao, Enlightenment will provide both strategic advice and innovative financing to Aurora.

Welcome to the New World of Robotic Aircraft

Organizations around the world are discovering the incredible potential of the drone revolution and are racing to harness it. While some choose to establish their own special-purpose teams, many seek a reliable partner who has both experience and flexibility. Aurora is unique in our ability to support large government programs while still retaining the agility to think and act like a Silicon Valley tech company. Our mission is to develop, certify and produce the world’s most advanced new aircraft, enabled by increasing autonomy. This marriage of robotics and aviation truly opens new venues of flight, and we invite you to join us on this quest.

NASA Adminstrator Charles Bolden visited Aurora’s Manassas Facility in June.

Aviation Week Laureate

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Orion Ultra-Long Endurance UAS

Aurora’s Orion unmanned aircraft system (UAS) received the 2016 Aviation Week Laureate Award in the “Innovation” category for the top innovative achievement of the year in aviation and aerospace. The award commended Orion’s December 2014 world record setting flight of an unmanned aircraft. Orion flew for just over 80 hours, shattering the previous record of 30 hours set by a Global Hawk in 2001, and landed with enough fuel on board to have flown an additional 60 hours.

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Centaur Optionally-Piloted Aircraft

Aurora’s Centaur Optionally-Piloted Aircraft (OPA) combines the best of manned and unmanned aircraft capabilities, enabling customers to conduct a variety of operations ranging from commercial to military missions. Last fall, Aurora partnered with leading marine conservation organization OCEARCH on their Nantucket great white shark tagging expedition. Centaur flew above the expedition area in a predetermined flight pattern to help scientists onboard the OCEARCH ship target, identify and track the location of the sharks in real time. February 2017

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Odysseus Solar-Powered Aircraft

Aurora is an established leader in the solar-powered aircraft market. We are currently building on our proven capabilities from previous platforms by developing a new generation of solar-powered aircraft that can stay aloft for up to three months. Pictured is a subscale model of Odysseus, first flown in 2009.

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ALIAS (Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System)

Contracted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Aurora’s engineers successfully demonstrated ALIAS automated flight capabilities in 2016, with the system flying a Cessna Caravan through basic maneuvers under the supervision of a pilot. Aurora’s ALIAS technology has been successfully demonstrated on three separate aircraft types in less than 12 months.

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AACUS (Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System)

The Office of Naval Research’s (ONR) AACUS program aims to enable unmanned rapid cargo delivery to Marines in the field or in austere locations. Aurora’s AACUS technology, Tactical Autonomous Aerial Logistics System (TALOS), encompasses obstacle detection and avoidance, and allows for autonomous landings at unprepared landing sites. In 2016, Aurora was awarded a contract from ONR to develop an unmanned version of the UH-1 equipped with TALOS.

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Artist’s Rendering

Approved for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited

SideArm Launch and Recovery System

SideArm is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) launch and recovery system capable of both land and sea-based operations, contracted under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The SideArm system brings runway independence to a new class of large fixed-wing UAVs, combining long endurance capabilities with the versatility of rotary-wing aircraft.

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Photo: NASA

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Cygnus Commercial Resupply Spacecraft

A critical component of Orbital ATK’s Cygnus commercial spacecraft, Aurora’s Positive Pressure Release Valves (PPRV) flew aboard the Atlas V rocket on two separate International Space Station (ISS) resupply missions. Manufactured in Aurora’s Research and Development Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the PPRVs were integrated into and launched with both the OA-4 and OA-6 spacecraft.

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LightningStrike VTOL X-Plane

Since winning the Vertical Take-off and Landing Experimental Plane (VTOL X-Plane) contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 2016, Aurora has been hard at work building and flight testing the LightningStrike subscale vehicle demonstrator. The 20% scale flight model weighing 325 pounds conducted its first successful test flight April of 2016, proving the capability of Aurora’s hybrid-electric propulsion technology. Above is the demonstrator’s flight captured at multiple points to show the vertical take-off and landing progression.

Photo: Ashish Bagai, Program Manager DARPA, TTO

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D8 Ultra-Efficient Commercial Aircraft

The D8 is a commercial aircraft concept that enables substantial efficiency improvements within the next decade. By entry into service, the D8 will be over 50% more fuel-efficient than current best-in-class aircraft while simultaneously reducing airline operating costs. Aurora was awarded a six-month National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) contract for continued development and associated research needed to enable the D8 aircraft.

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RQ-4/MQ-4C

On our longest running program Aurora fabricates the composite aft fuselage, nacelle and V-tail assemblies for the U.S. Air Force Global Hawk (RQ-4) and the U.S. Navy Triton (MQ-4C) Unmanned Surveillance Aircraft. Above is the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C flying over the U.S. Navy’s USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) guided missile destroyer.

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S-97® - Aurora designed and built the composite air frame

Aurora builds the composite main rotor pylon cowlings for the Bell 525

CH-53K - Aurora builds the engine nacelles and main rotor pylon

Aurora builds the horizontal tail primary structure for the G500

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Persistently Advancing Aerostructures

Aurora’s Aerostructures Group develops advanced manufacturing technologies and successfully transitions solutions from prototype to rate production. We perform a number of Design/Build and Build-to-Print programs at our facilities in West Virginia and Mississippi, including Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) processes for military, space, and commercial primary structures. Aurora’s Aerostructures programs include Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk RQ-4 and Triton MQ-4C, Sikorsky’s CH-53K, S-97, MH-60R and S-92; Bell’s Relentless 525, and Gulfstream’s G500 November 2017

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Just Another Day on the Flightline

Aurora’s Orion UAS and two Centaur Optionally-Piloted Aircraft (OPA) at dusk at the Manassas Regional Airport in Virginia.

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Manassas, Virginia Headquarters, Engineering/Product Development

9950 Wakeman Drive Manassas, VA 20110

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Bridgeport, West VirginiaManufacturing

3000 East Benedum Industrial Drive Bridgeport, WV 26330

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Aurora Flight Sciences is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Aurora’s family of multi-day endurance aircraft: Centaur, Orion and Sunlight Eagle

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Calendar - Aurora Flight Sciences · research and remote sensing. The Drive for Runway Independence Whether it’s by land or sea, Aurora is developing runway-independent unmanned