US Marine Corps chooses KARGO for autonomous airborne logistics prototype
Kaman has designed KARGO to undertake expeditionary logistics missions for the USMC. (Image: Kaman)
Kaman is manufacturing a prototype full-size KARGO UAV for the USMC under the Medium Unmanned Logistics Systems – Air programme.
Kaman Air Vehicles announced on 10 October that it has been selected by the USMC to build a prototype UAS for logistics missions.
The UAS will be a ‘funded military version’ of the KARGO medium-lift UAV that can carry a payload of 800lb (363kg), Kaman explained in a company statement.
The USMC project is being managed by NAVAIR PMA-263 under the Medium Unmanned Logistics Systems – Air programme.
Once the prototype is constructed, KARGO will complete a field user capability assessment in an operationally relevant test environment.
Kaman began to develop KARGO in 2021, flying a reduced-scale aircraft in Q4 that year as a proof-of-concept demonstration.
‘A full-scale demonstrator is under construction, and the first flight is scheduled for later this year [2022],’ the company noted.
Near Earth Autonomy provides the autonomy system for KARGO and parallel testing is ongoing for the autonomy systems that will be employed on the USMC prototype.
‘We have been tracking the need for expeditionary logistics for some time,’ said Carroll Lane, president of Kaman Precision Products.
He added that Kaman will prioritise the development of KARGO for the USMC in the foreseeable future.
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