The U.S. Air Force (USAF) is continuing to back efforts to develop autonomous flight technology through a pair of new contracts for Reliable Robotics. On September 16, the California-based company announced the award of an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract for possible applications of its navigation and “always on” autopilot systems on airlift and refueling aircraft.
Under the flexible contract, Reliable Robotics will continue its work with the USAF, including through its existing partnership with the Afwerx unit of the Air Force Research Laboratory. It follows last week’s announcement that Afwerx is extending previous Small Business Innovation Research funding with new backing through the Tactical Funding Increase program.
The contract values were not disclosed in either case. The Tactical Funding Increase award has been supplemented by a matching investment in Reliable Robotics from Eclipse Ventures.
Earlier this year, Reliable Robotics delivered an automation roadmap that the USAF had commissioned to assess possible operations with its KC-135 aircraft for air-to-air refueling. Under the IDIQ contract, the company is also exploring possible military use cases for Cessna 208B Caravan and Cessna 408 SkyCourier aircraft, as well as for various unspecified intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms.
With a view to possible operations in the Indo-Pacific region, the USAF is focused on how autonomous flight technology could safely support longer flights with reduced demands on aircrew and lower procurement costs. “Aircraft autonomy is a mission-critical capability for the Department of the Air Force,” said Josh Fehd, Afwerx’s autonomy prime branch chief. “This IDIQ contract is driven by demand from Air Mobility Command, Air Combat Command, and Pacific Air Forces, and commands that want to employ advanced aircraft automation into their fleets as soon as possible.”
Merlin Pilot Now in Caravan Flight Tests
Meanwhile, another contender to provide autonomous flight technology for the U.S. military is actively engaged in a flight test campaign with its Merlin Pilot system installed on a Cessna Caravan aircraft. The Boston-based company is involved in a partnership with the USAF that could lead to the technology being used on KC-135 and C-130J aircraft.
The Caravan aircraft is now flying in California with a glass cockpit upgrade including new avionics, sensors, an autopilot, and an automated communication system. On September 5, Merlin announced that it is expanding test flights that started in June as it works to validate its automatic flight control system by the end of September.
“What we’ve installed on this aircraft is not a prototype as this is no longer research and development,” said Merlin’s founder and CEO, Matt George. “With this aircraft, we are validating takeoff to touchdown advanced automation, which for pilots represents a system that is truly set-it-and-forget-it.”
Once the current round of flight tests is complete, Merlin plans to reconfigure the Caravan to complete its efforts to secure a supplemental type certificate. This is the basis for its plans to commercialize conversions of existing aircraft for various civil and military applications.