Portal Aircraft Company
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Portal Aircraft Company (PAC) designs and manufactures manned and unmanned long-range vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft that combine simplicity, safety, redundancy, and performance. PAC’s patented gas-turbine-powered VTOL architecture, enabling multicopter and tilt-rotor aircraft to achieve exceptional endurance, efficiency and maintainability while remaining lightweight and electromagnetically resilient.
PAC aircraft bridge the gap between helicopters and electric VTOLs—offering turbine reliability, distributed thrust, and straightforward mechanical simplicity that make them ideal for both defense and civilian missions.
Recent Milestones:
- DARPA “Awardable” Designation (ERIS Program): Earlier this year, PAC was technically vetted by DARPA under the Extensible Robust Intelligent Sensing (ERIS) program and designated “Awardable.” This status authorizes DARPA and other defense organizations to contract directly with the company, validating the technical merit and national-security relevance of PAC’s architecture.
- U.S. Army xTechSearch 9 Winner: PAC was selected as one of only 24 winners out of more than 850 participating companies in the U.S. Army’s xTechSearch 9 competition. The win recognizes PAC’s potential to deliver transformational capability in advanced VTOL aircraft.
- Phase I SBIR Contract (Expected Jan 2026): As a result of the xTechSearch 9 victory, PAC is positioned to receive a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to mature its technology for Army applications. The period of performance is expected to begin in January 2026.
- Partnership with Texas A&M University and Harmony Aeronautics: PAC has established a formal partnership with Texas A&M University, leveraging the university’s engineering and manufacturing expertise to advance system design, analysis, and prototyping.
Latest News
NASA Tech Transfer: Where Public Research Fuels Private Innovation
The United States’ economic and military dominance comes in part from a pipeline of innovation flowing from publicly funded research to private sector companies. The NASA Technology Transfer Program is one of the ways that the federal government provides private organizations with these types of technologies.
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Some of our greatest technological breakthroughs have come out of defense contracts. From jet engines to plasma transfusions, small private-sector companies have a rich history of developing pivotal new technologies. Often developed initially for government use, many have ultimately revolutionized both the military and civilian markets. This synergistic relationship is fundamental to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.
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