Autonomous flight developer Reliable Robotics continues demonstrating potential military applications for its technology, using a Cessna 208B Caravan to operate “automated” cargo exercises on behalf of the US Air Force (USAF).
As part of Air Combat Command’s Agile Flag exercises, Reliable Robotics completed a week-long series of cargo flights between military installations and airports throughout California and Nevada, the start-up said on 26 August.
For the exercises, Reliable’s Caravan was operated by a remote pilot at a ground station, with an on-board pilot monitoring throughout taxi, take-off, navigation and landing.
The exercises, designed to represent operations in the Indo-Pacific region, covered eight pick-up and drop-off locations hundreds of kilometres apart – “demanding agility, readiness and multi-domain operations”, Reliable says.
No additional infrastructure was used to complete the automated flights, demonstrating the autonomous flight system’s agility, it adds.
”Autonomy in small platforms reduces risk and opens up the ability to land in more places including damaged runways or unimproved surfaces,” says Colonel Max Bremer, chief of Air Mobility Command’s Special Programs Division.
In January, the USAF granted a military airworthiness approval for Reliable to use its “always-on autopilot” for flight-testing following safety, maintenance and operational evaluations.
Reliable is not the only company pushing the Caravan as a platform for autonomous military operations, as fellow California start-up Xwing has also performed test-flights for the USAF, using a Grand Caravan modified with its “Superpilot” system.
In January, Xwing delivered “equipment requested by air force leaders” from March Air Reserve Base in Southern California to McClellan Airfield near Sacramento.
