ADAV (aéronef à décollage et atterrissage verticaux)

ADAV is the French abbreviation for aéronef à décollage et atterrissage verticaux. The English equivalent is vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, abbreviated VTOL aircraft. Transport Canada lists the abbreviation in its aviation glossary and gives the English term alongside it.

In practice, an ADAV is an aircraft that can climb and descend vertically and can operate from very short runways or small areas. Helicopters are among the aircraft Transport Canada includes in the category. The term appears in aviation, aerospace and defence writing from the Government of Canada, so bilingual bid teams are likely to meet it in French-language documents.

How Transport Canada defines an ADAV

Transport Canada's Circulaire d'information no 100-001 identifies ADAV as the abbreviation for aéronef à décollage et atterrissage verticaux. It describes the aircraft as capable of vertical climbs and descents and able to use very short runways or small areas for takeoff and landing. It states that helicopters are included.

The same circular gives vertical takeoff and landing aircraft as the English term. A supplier translating a French specification into English can use that pairing directly.

ADAV, ADACV and ADAVe: related abbreviations

Several similar abbreviations circulate, and they are not interchangeable.

• ADAV means VTOL aircraft, the vertical-only concept. NATO's AAP-15 glossary of acronyms and abbreviations records it for aéronef à décollage et atterrissage verticaux.
• ADACV means VSTOL aircraft, an aircraft with short or vertical takeoff and landing, in French aéronef à décollage et atterrissage courts ou verticaux. NATO's glossary lists ADACV as the preferred abbreviation for this combined concept and marks ADAC/ADAV as deprecated for it.
• ADAVe means an electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft. The National Research Council Canada uses it in its advanced air mobility research material.

The Government of Canada's guidance on acronym formation also shows the lower-case form adav as an example of an acronym derived from a common noun. That page expands it as avion à décollage et atterrissage verticaux instead of using aéronef, so the wording of the expansion can vary between sources.

Where ADAV appears in Canadian government material

Transport Canada uses ADAV in its official aviation glossary and in technical aviation guidance on aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing capability. The National Research Council Canada uses the related ADAVe in work on advanced air mobility, including electric VTOL aircraft and remotely piloted aircraft systems.

The defence community uses the term as well. A 2025 article in the Canadian Army Journal, on new technologies in urban warfare, uses ADAV to describe an unmanned aerial vehicle capable of vertical takeoff and landing.

What ADAV means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

ADAV is a descriptive category, not a certification or a standard. The term alone does not create a mandatory certification, security requirement, technical standard or bid deliverable. Its effect in a solicitation depends on the statement of work, the specification, the performance requirements and any standards the document references.

• Read the surrounding requirement to see whether the buyer means helicopters, unmanned aircraft, electric VTOL aircraft or another configuration.
• Check whether a document uses ADAV, ADACV or ADAVe, since each describes a different aircraft concept.
• Use VTOL aircraft as the English equivalent when preparing bilingual proposal content.
• Raise any ambiguity in the wording with the contracting authority through the question period.