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Unmanned cargo chopper shows off its search-and-rescue talents
For three years between 2011 and 2014, the unmanned Kamen K-Max 1200 helicopter delivered more than 4.5 million tons of supplies to the most dangerous and far-flung US Forward Operating Bases throughout Afghanistan. It followed that feat up in 2014 by demonstrating its ability to coordinate with other UAVs in forest fire suppression operations. And in March of this year, the semi-autonomous helicopter once again proved that it can integrate operations with land-based drones to locate, identify and evacuate people stranded in desolate areas -- all without putting more lives at risk.
Watch an unmanned helicopter put out fires with help from a drone
Fighting wildfires is sometimes a daunting prospect with manned aircraft; pilots can't always fly around the clock or cover every patch of land. They won't have to if Lockheed Martin's efforts pan out. It recently demonstrated a tweaked version of its unmanned K-MAX helicopter that can work in tandem with a quadrotor drone, Indago, to stamp out fires with relatively little human intervention. As you'll see in the clip below, Indago serves as a forward scout that marks any hotspots. After that, K-MAX swoops in with a bucket to douse the flames. It fetches more water on its own, too.
Army seeking proposals for casualty-carrying UAVs
Combat is a grizzly business, and despite the best efforts of medical evacuation crews, it's not always feasible to send rescue teams into the fray. The US Army is seeking to address this with "autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)" (read: drones) for dropping off medical supplies and picking up injured troops. In its latest request for research and development proposals, the Army calls not for new tools, but for the repurposing of current aircraft to do the job. Preferred candidates in the already unmanned class include the A160 Hummingbird and the K-MAX, while one of the suggestions for remote-control modification is the infamous Black Hawk. Makes the AR.Drone seem a little wimpy, doesn't it?
K-MAX unmanned chopper delivers Air Force salute to Afghan danger (video)
It's a year since Lockheed Martin won the contract to provide an unmanned cargo delivery system to the US military and now its first K-MAX helicopter is just about ready for duty. The 6,000-pound RC chopper is scheduled to journey to the manifold fronts of Afghanistan next month, where it'll get busy ferrying its own bodyweight in ammo and supplies to needy anthills up to 200km away. And, if things get too sticky for laptop flying, there's always room for a brave soul to jump in there and grab the controls. You'll find a fresh demo video after the break, plus we've also stuck in that fancy clip from last year to rotor your memory.
Lockheed Martin and Kaman's unmanned helicopter wins military contract (video)
When developing an unmanned vehicle there are two paths to choose from: create an entirely fresh design with no room for a carbon-based pilot, or simply take an existing craft and make it self-sufficient. That's the direction Lockheed Martin chose for its submission to the the joint Army Marines Autonomous Technologies for Unmanned Air Systems (ATUAS) program, and it turned out to be a winner. The idea is to create an autonomous helo that can resupply military forces, and Lockheed Martin started with a Kaman K-Max cargo chopper (demo'd after the break), capable of lifting 6,000lbs plus one pilot -- who was made optional. This customized K-Max can place its cargo within a 10 meter drop zone after flying 200km or more, but a principal advantage of this submission is that you can still put a pilot in there and use it like a traditional heavy lifter, while the competition from Boeing was a bespoke UAV with no room for meatbags. It's unclear when exactly this sentient K-Max will be hitting battlefields, but hopefully the Army and Marines come up with some other, rewarding jobs for their pilots, because between this and the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Roadmap released earlier this year that particular job market could be getting tight. Update: Bo from Lockheed Martin wrote in to let us know of a different video we've added after the break featuring higher production values, more guitar solos, and plenty of autonomous cargo liftin'.
