Reliable Robotics, a leader in autonomous aircraft systems, today announced the award of an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract leveraging the company’s dual-use technology to provide advanced automation to United States Air Force (USAF) airlift and refueling aircraft. The flexible IDIQ contract will span multiple years, and advance the development, production and deployment of Reliable’s autonomous flight system. The contract is also a vehicle for AFWERX and Reliable Robotics to explore partnerships with other branches of the military and combatant commands to scale and transition Reliable’s advanced automation technologies for specific use cases.
In its quest to develop innovative logistics capabilities, with a focus on the Indo-Pacific, the USAF is seeking commercial technologies like Reliable’s autonomous flight system to enable longer duration operations in contested environments while increasing safety and reducing demands for aircrews and lowering procurement costs.
“Aircraft autonomy is a mission critical capability for the Department of the Air Force. This IDIQ contract is driven by demand from Air Mobility Command, Air Combat Command, Pacific Air Forces and commands that want to employ advanced aircraft automation in their fleets as soon as possible,” said Lt Col Josh Fehd, AFWERX Autonomy Prime Branch Chief.
Reliable has been collaborating with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and AFWERX since 2021 under SBIR contracts, and has demonstrated remote piloting during major exercises such as AGILE FLAG. Reliable was also recently awarded competitive funding under the AFWERX Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) program. Earlier this year, Reliable delivered a KC-135 Automation Roadmap commissioned by the USAF, validating that Reliable’s commercially developed technology can bring flexible advanced automation to all phases of the KC-135 air-to-air refueling operation.
“IDIQ contract award signals long-term engagement with the Air Force and provides flexibility for us to further demonstrate our autonomous flight system in operational readiness activities, explore automation of more aircraft and deploy production-ready capabilities,” said Dr. David O’Brien, Major General (Ret.), and Senior Vice President of Government Solutions at Reliable Robotics. “In addition to automating the Cessna 208B Caravan and KC-135 Stratotanker, other aircraft like the Cessna 408 SkyCourier and ISR platforms may also be evaluated under this contract.”
Reliable’s safety-enhancing automation system is aircraft-agnostic, and incorporates redundancy, high integrity navigation and an “always on” autopilot that is engaged through all phases of aircraft operation from taxi to takeoff to landing. The dual-use automation solution converts existing commercial airframes with autonomous flight systems, which can be configured for defense purposes. With FAA oversight, Reliable demonstrated remote operation of two different aircraft types in civilian airspace with no one onboard, a Cessna 172 in 2019 and more recently, a Cessna 208B Caravan in 2023. Reliable has the most advanced program for full aircraft automation with FAA acceptance of its certification plan in 2023, and further certification progress in 2024.
About Reliable Robotics
Reliable Robotics launched in 2017 to bring safe, certified automation systems to commercial and defense aviation. The company’s system enables remote operation of any aircraft type. Reliable’s vision is to transform the way we move goods and people around the planet with safer, more convenient and more affordable air transportation. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, CA and has a distributed global workforce. Learn more and see job openings at https://reliable.co
Reliable Robotics Corporation and its respective logos are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of the company. Other products and company names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective owners.
About AFRL
The Air Force Research Laboratory is the primary scientific research and development center for the Department of the Air Force. AFRL plays an integral role in leading the discovery, development, and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for our air, space and cyberspace force. With a workforce of more than 12,500 across nine technology areas and 40 other operations across the globe, AFRL provides a diverse portfolio of science and technology ranging from fundamental to advanced research and technology development. For more information, visit www.afresearchlab.com
About AFWERX
As the innovation arm of the DAF and a directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory, AFWERX brings cutting-edge American ingenuity from small businesses and start-ups to address the most pressing challenges of the DAF. AFWERX employs approximately 370 military, civilian and contractor personnel at five hubs and sites executing an annual $1.4 billion budget. Since 2019, AFWERX has executed 6,028 new contracts worth more than $4 billion to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and drive faster technology transition to operational capability. For more information, visit: www.afwerx.com
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