The only helos on display at this years’ Modern Day Marine expo at Marine Corps Base Quantico reflect constant need for supply and intel for troops on the ground – be they Leathernecks or GI Joes.
One, the K-MAX, is a battleship gray, cargo-carrying aircraft designed to fly sans pilot, though there’s a cockpit in place the event that human touch is desired or needed. Further along the midway is a small, sleek black Boeing A160 Hummingbird helo (shown above).
There’s no cockpit in this chopper, which is being used as a stealthy eye in the sky.
“It’s completely unmanned, completely autonomous,” said Mansik Johng of Boeing, which picked up the program when it bought the company originally developing under DARPA funding it in 2004. “It can stay [aloft] about 18.7 hours. In fact, it set a world record for endurance for this class of vehicle.”
A primary customer is Special Operations Command, which has plans to acquire up to 20 of the black birds up through 2017, though the company also has a $30 million contract to supply two to Naval Air Systems Command, Johng said.
The company is preparing an unspecified number of Hummingbirds for their first deployment to Afghanistan in the coming year.
“It can carry different payloads,” he said, pointing out the Hellfire missiles mock-up on the Quantico display. “But primarily this is more of an ISR aircraft.”
Meanwhile, the K-MAX (shown above) is described as “a workhorse” that will ferry supplies and material out to combat forces in the field.
K-MAX is a Kaman Aircraft helicopter. The company has partnered up with Lockheed Martin to fully develop the helo as an autonomous or remotely controlled aircraft. Lockheed said it made a good showing of its capabilities a year ago, when a K-MAX carried more than 3,000 pounds of cargo to three pre-programmed delivery coordinates, delivering the cargo by sling autonomously, during a demonstration for the Marine Corps at the Army’s Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.
The Corps intends to pick up three of the aircraft for use in Afghanistan, according to reports. Lockheed spokeswoman Alexandra Wildfong said the K-MAX completed a required a Quick Reaction Assessment recently out in Arizona.
“We are currently waiting on a decision whether we’re going to deploy these in theater,” she said.
– Bryant Jordan
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
The only concern about robotic logistics helicopters is that they still need a reliable delivery mechanism for the troops. If they're just parking on a helipad and waiting for guys to unload boxes one at a time from the back, it's just another expensive mortar target.
Of course, the prospect of unmanned helicopters brings the inviting prospect of putting weapons on them…
Agreed.
Id memory serves me correctly, the Hummingbird cargo capability is effectively a module that is attched not unlike a fuel tank to the fuselage of a fixe wing aircraft. If that is the case, it could simply land the bird, lower and detach the payload, and fly off. This could be useful for sending back mail and other items from the forward troops as well. Reload the module that was left from the last time, the bird comes in, detaches the one it is carrying, attach the old one from a previous run, and fly out.
It has a sling load capability with a seperate remote ground control payload drop option
Sling cuts into performance, and would seem to be a waste of a perfectly stealthy bird (except if you wanted to drop clandestine packages).
I recall they were fiddling with a GPS guided parachute pallet that could drop stuff accurately for resupply.
Then again, automated medevac might not be a bad idea. Build a shelter for the helicopter, load your wounded aboard, roll the helicopter out of cover, pop smoke (since it's unmanned) and get the helicopter away and hope it isn't shot down.
That or emergency escape, say in a Wanat style situation. Unmanned with a pre-programmed flight plan would allow helicopter escapes, since you don't need a trained pilot. You could get shot down, but that's a risk you need to run or die in place.
The Kmax does sling loads.
The Hummingbird's range make it a heck of a stand off maritime strike option I think.
I wonder if there is a thought of using these as a possible medevac bird in some situations? The current medevacs are manned and usually do not land under heavy fire, they do have living pilots after all. But perhaps one of these unmanned birds had a way of allowing a wounded serviceman to get onboard and quickly take off to have them evacuated out to safety, might be a way to save lives. Sometimes the reason servicemen die is because the medevac can't get in there to evacuate them, this could be a new way of trying to get them out.
Good point.
Something else to consider though, the unmanned bird won't have flight medics on board to treat the wounded.
That may be true, but usually there are no medics where the servicemen get hit as it is, so this is effectively a wash. Even if there is a medic to stabilize the person or even start care, if they can't get the wounded out, it doesn't make a bit of difference. This would give them the option, albeit not the best, to get the wounded out, without risking the lives of the Medevac crews, to get a person out of harms way. You can even do this as a stop-gap measure. Fly the person out of the danger zone to a spot where it could rendevous with the medevac safely.
It's not a bad idea, and might work for things like walking wounded. The best application might be for more routine use of helicopters, especially for things like moving personnel and equipment around and reserving your pilots and Blackhawks for combat missions. There's no reason they could be issued to medical units who could just load in and have the machine fly them out where necessary: it would free up a additional pilot.
More ominously, this might lead to the decimation of the WO pilot force?
Nah! They will just be the ones behind the joysticks at base going, hey watch the bird do this!
Already done and entering active service soon.
http://www.urbanaero.com/
I just wonder how all the data from all these UAV's is being handled- I jut imagine a bunch of Marines staring at screens and missing the big picture.
Forrest for the trees type stuff.
The entire situation of unmanned helicopters for the US military confuses me. Could someone please explain:
What is the time frame of this project? Will there be a downselect between the A160 and K-MAX? When will the enter service/production? Who plans to use them? Will they be armed or is that just an option?
Also, how many are planned?
They've been testing both for the last year or so. One bird can haul more, but the other bird can fly a hell of a lot longer. That was the issue they were addressing when I first read about this. I don't know if they've made any progress one way or the other. Like the article states at the end, they want the capability in Afghanistan at least for trials nowish.
Interesting but a Pilot is far better to quickly reacting to threats and objects. A CH-53E or AH-1Z is far better than this.
These would be used more for routine/predictable missions like resupply. You load up the bird at an airfield with supply drops for several FOBs and send it on its way with the entire route preprogrammed. You could free up that CH-53 and pilot for those important missions you're worried about.
I think the first few posts are correct. The sling delivery system of the K-Max releases one load at a time and the demo mentioned in the piece was actually an autonomous delivery by one helo delivering to 3 places, one after the other.
Imagine that following in a team with heavier weapons and supplies. Especially if they can be made stealthy.
15 million dollars each?
Seems like when it comes to weapons, everything is 100X more expensive then you would think.
I always look at things as what it would cost to build them with raw resources. I understand the companies need to pay employees, etc etc etc. But sometimes I scratch my head and wonder what the breakdown is on why things cost as much as they do.
An interesting job I would love to have is being like a government auditor. Interesting to think about how a billion dollar stealth bomber for example costs so much. Some parts are probably the size of an ipod and cost a half million dollars to make.
It's because each aircraft has R&D lumped into it. And when you spend R&D money chasing a 200 aircraft contract it can get out of control. Then when the contract is cut to 20 aircraft, the R&D cost/aircraft goes up by 10x, making your aircraft cost over a billion each.
The profile, flight altitude, & quietness of the A160Hbird makes it as close to stealth as helos get. Also Unloading isnt an issue as the uavs purpose is to drop relatively small loads to Distributed Squads & Platoons on the move.
K-MAX is 100 times louder than the Hummingbird. A160 has "whisper mode" rotor system. Reminds me of the old "Blue Thunder" movie with Roy Scheider.
Dugway Proving Grounds outside of Wendover, Utah, has been spraying something over the skies of Elko County, Nevada, starting about a month ago. I just photographed no less than ten jets leaving what can't possibly be normal exhaust trails. They're about four times wider than the trails we're all used to seeing. Plus, we never get that many jets through here, at most about one a day. Dugway and The Newly-Formed Communist Government Of America are up to something very nefarious. And I know these jets must be from Dugway because they're the closest commie base. I'm writing all my local, county, state, and federal officials. You need to start making your voices heard about all the anti-American, anti-freedom crap that's coming down. Google "chemtrails" and see what you come up with. I'm emailing out my photos as we speak. Harold Dean Berry – Wells, Nevada.
That would probably bring back the enlisted pilot force, which disappeared after WW2.