Autonomous Aerial Cargo Missions Completed for USAF 

A developer of autonomous aircraft systems, Reliable Robotics has completed a series of automated missions across airfields in California and Nevada for the Department of the Air Force. 

In conjunction with Air Combat Command, Reliable demonstrated aircraft automation capabilities as part of the Agile Flag 24-3 exercise. The company transported cargo between military bases and airports, some hundreds of miles apart, over the course of a week. 

The exercise was designed to be representative of the Indo-Pacific region, demanding agility, readiness and multi-domain operations.

Automated flights of a Cessna 208B Caravan included autotaxi, autotakeoff, en-route navigation and autolanding. All flights were managed by Reliable’s remote pilot while an onboard pilot monitored. 

Reliable deployed a mobile control station onsite at Mojave Air and Space Port, which served as a base of operations for the military exercise. The rapid deployment of Reliable’s mobile control station enabled onsite demonstrations of the remote piloting side of the operation for Air Force and NASA personnel.

Over the week-long exercise, Reliable flew to eight locations, transporting essential cargo. All flights were expedited and scheduled ‘on-demand,’ and did not require deployment of any additional infrastructure for automated flight, demonstrating the additional utility and flexibility automation can provide. 

Preparation for the exercise required obtaining military airworthiness and flight safety approvals for expanded operations from the U.S. Air Force.

Reliable has an FAA-accepted certification plan for full aircraft automation, and continues to make certification progress. The safety-enhancing automation system features redundancy, high integrity navigation and an “always on” autopilot that is engaged through all phases of aircraft operation. The system is aircraft-agnostic.

Reliable participated in Agile Flag 24-1 earlier this year, as well as the Golden Phoenix exercise in 2023 and has been collaborating with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and AFWERX since 2021.

Colonel Max Bremer, Mobility COE Senior Advisor, Chief of Special Programs Division, Air Mobility Command, commented, “The Air Force has a unique opportunity to redefine efficiency through autonomous operations, which can enable persistent maneuver in contested environments and simultaneous cargo delivery instead of our current sequential system.

“Autonomy in small platforms reduces risk and opens up the ability to land in more places including damaged runways or unimproved surfaces. Military exercises like Agile Flag provide a venue for us to more closely evaluate how technologies like autonomous systems operate in real missions.”

NASA Armstrong executive leadership came to observe Reliable’s Agile Flag operations at Mojave. Brad Flick, Center Director at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, stated, “We are excited to see the dual-use automation system Reliable has developed for commercial and defense customers. It’s good to see the maturity of their technology.”

Dr. David O’Brien, Major General (Ret.), and Senior Vice President of Government Solutions at Reliable Robotics, added, “We are proud to participate in military exercises. Agile Flag provided us the opportunity to show how our autonomous flight system benefits defense missions and to demonstrate timely mission readiness. We remain committed to serve and support the U.S. Air Force and other branches of our nation’s military.”

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