Flight automation start-up Reliable Robotics has scored a $17.4 million U.S. Air Force contract to launch an autonomous cargo logistics program with a fully automated Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, the company announced Tuesday. The contract covers the purchase, integration, and testing of the Reliable Autonomy System (RAS) on a 208B freighter variant known as the “Super Cargomaster.”
“The United States Air Force will purchase a Reliable Autonomy System from Reliable, and it will also buy a Cessna 208 from Reliable, separately. Under the contract, we will retrofit the aircraft with RAS and then ship it out for flight testing.” retired Maj. Gen. David O’Brien, senior v-p of government solutions at Reliable Robotics, told AIN. “We will begin working on the contract at the end of the year, with R&D happening in the first half of 2026 and operations happening from 2026-2027.”
According to O’Brien, the USAF intends to eventually deploy the autonomous turboprop overseas. “Pacific operations are ultimately anticipated,” he said, adding that Reliable will work with Afwerx, the Air Force Research Laboratory’s innovation branch, to determine “an optimum site for initial delivery and testing.”
The new contract builds on work that Reliable has been conducting since 2021 to design, develop, and test autonomous flight capabilities for USAF platforms such as the KC-135 Stratotanker. Last month, Reliable announced a cooperative research agreement with the USAF to advance autonomous collaborative platform capabilities and develop a framework for commercial uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) that ensures compatibility with USAF standards.
The Mountain View, California-based company has already completed test flights without pilots on board, and its remotely piloted Caravan earned military airworthiness approval last year. In August 2024, that aircraft conducted autonomous cargo flight demonstrations alongside Xwing, Joby Aviation’s autonomy subsidiary, as part of a U.S. Air Force agile combat employment exercise.
“Autonomous aircraft are a true force multiplier, enabling every service’s agility concepts—especially agile combat employment, where success depends on rapid, unpredictable logistics across dispersed hubs,” commented retired Gen. Mike Minihan, former commander of the USAF’s Air Mobility Command. “Reliable’s automation shows how the Air Force is leveraging autonomy not just to reduce risk, but to expand the number and diversity of locations where sustainment can go—directly, securely, and at the tempo required to win.”
In addition to automating military aircraft, Reliable intends to offer its “drop-in” autonomy kit commercially, and the FAA has already accepted its certification plans for an early iteration of the RAS that the company refers to as an “advanced navigation and continuous autopilot system”—a pilot aid for reduced-crew or single-pilot operations that could be certified as early as next year. Eventually, Reliable hopes to certify the fully autonomous system for pilotless operations.