Autonomy Kits TACFI
AFWERX · AFWERX TACFI · AFWERX
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Description
Reliable Robotics envisions a robust military cargo airline that utilizes automated aircraft to simplify flight crew and aircraft logistics, increase operational readiness and cadence, and operate across many locations without putting flight crews into hazardous operating conditions. In support of this vision, Reliable’s proposed TACFI solution is the Reliable Autonomy System (RAS). The RAS will demonstrate full-flight automation of an operationally relevant cargo mission with a commercial C208 Caravan. This demonstration will be used to assess the feasibility of providing the aircraft automation system as a low-cost, dual-use system that provides operational flexibility by utilizing the Reliable Robotics systems and equipment on track for commercial certification with the FAA. Reliable’s RAS is a kit that can be added to any fixed-wing aircraft to enable it to be fully automated, optionally piloting, or leveraging automation as a safety system for the reduced crew. Automation is a key enabler for future military tactical air dominance and an enabler for forward-basing operations. The RAS will provide a significant technical advancement for Air Mobility Command (AMC) operations in theater and across associated staging locations and bases. The mature automation architecture for this demonstration represents a robust, multi-aircraft, automated airline logistics airline demonstration at scale. Reliable envisions the near-term technical capabilities to enable deployability to highly contested military environments in INDOPACOM. Enhanced automation system testing and development on the current C208 aircraft provides the opportunity for Reliable to scale the technology to military cargo operations in contested environments, or other use cases including ISR. The RAS technology also scales directly to aerial refueling operations and has performed design studies under our current SBIR on KC-135 that demonstrated the system's ability to scale