The Army has chosen a team of Near Earth Autonomy and Kaman Air Vehicles
[KAMN] to demonstrate a large resupply drone solution capable of carrying payloads between 800 and 1,400 pounds, the companies said on Thursday.
The two firms said their heavy-lift vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) UAS prototype will be based on Kaman’s KARGO UAV model, which the Marine Corps also previously selected for its own logistics drone project.
“This heavy-lift vertical takeoff and landing UAS will take soldiers out of harm’s way and supplement resupply trips through added uncrewed lift capacity,” Near Earth and Kaman said in a statement. “Today, the Army depends on smaller drones and heavier crewed aircraft for resupply missions. This practice significantly heightens the risk for Army aircrews, especially when operating in hostile regions. The Army’s heavy-lift Vertical Takeoff and Landing UAS program requirements match Near Earth’s expertise in autonomous flight technology and Kaman’s proven rotorcraft and uncrewed solutions capabilities.”
The Army Application Laboratory (AAL) previously said it had planned to award $3 million deals to up to two companies for the heavy-lift VTOL demonstration effort, with potential to award a follow-on $3 million deal.
“Current resupply methods send helicopters flown by human beings into extremely dangerous areas or use Uncrewed Aerial Systems with limited distance and weight-bearing capabilities,” the AAL wrote in its notice detailing the project. “The development of a heavy-lift Vertical Takeoff and Landing UAS would take soldiers in crewed systems out of harm’s way while reducing the frequency of resupply trips though added lift capacity.”
Near Earth said its the prime contractor for the effort and is responsible for the heavy-lift VTOL UAS’ autonomy system “which will provide mission assurance through responsive autonomy, enabling soldiers to focus on their primary mission rather than on controlling the UAS.”
The two companies said the prototype’s design, based on Kaman’s KARGO UAV, is modular and able to be adapted for missions ranging from contested logistics, and ISR to electronic warfare, communications relay and search and rescue.
“Between Near Earth’s expertise in aerial autonomy and Kaman’s background in uncrewed logistics and rotorcraft manufacturing, we have the synergistic skills needed to develop a single aerial system that serves many different applications,” Romin Dasmalchi, general manager for Kaman’s KARGO UAV business, said in a statement.
The Marine Corps selected Kaman last October to build a prototype heavy-lift drone based on the KARGO UAV for its Medium Unmanned Logistics Systems – Air (MULS-A) program (Defense Daily, Oct. 12 2022).
Kaman has previously said it estimates the KARGO to have a range upward of 500 nautical miles, depending on payload weight, while traveling at a speed of up to 121 knots and able to operate at over 10,000 feet.
“The [Army’s] HVTOL UAS program partnership with Kaman enables us to broaden our current scope from developing an aerial resupply aircraft for the Marine Corps to creating an autonomous multi-mission aircraft that can autonomously address a wide variety of critical needs,” Near Earth CEO Sanjiv Singh said in a statement.
Near Earth and Kaman said the prototype logistics drone will participate in the Army’s next Project Convergence capstone experiment in the spring, “displaying applications ranging from cargo resupply to reconnaissance.”