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U.S. military to experiment with unmanned helicopters
The U.S. military is hoping to use remote-controlled helicopters like these, shown in January 2010, for supply delivery.
Faced with increasing casualties from roadside bombs in Afghanistan, the U.S. military will experiment with remote-controlled, unmanned helicopters to deliver supplies to remote outposts, the U.S. Navy said.
The U.S. Navy is seeking a contractor to operate the program, planned for the last quarter of 2011, Eric Pratson, leader of the U.S. Navy team behind the project, told CNN.
“This is a rapid deployment effort being led by the Navy in response to an urgent needs requirement for a Cargo UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) capability in support of Marine Corps forces engaged in Operation Enduring Freedom,” Pratson told Stars and Stripes, which first reported the plan.
Lockheed-Martin and Kaman Aerospace say their K-MAX unmanned helicopter system can do the job. They tested it at the Army’s Dugway Proving Ground earlier this year and it met or exceeded requirements, according to a Lockheed-Martin statement.
“It keeps our Marines readily resupplied and out of harm’s way,” Dan Spoor, Lockheed Martin Aviation Systems vice president, said in a statement.
The company says the K-MAX can operate day or night, deliver up to 3,450 pounds of supplies to up to four locations per trip and hover at 12,000 feet.
Boeing's A160T.
Boeing is also vying for the contract with its A160T Hummingbird unmanned copter, the company said Wednesday. It said the A160T passed a Marine Corps test in March, successfully delivering 2,500 pounds of supplies during a simulated mission.
“This capability will save lives by getting troops and trucks off of roads where they are highly vulnerable to IED attacks,” Vic Sweberg, director, Boeing Unmanned Airborne Systems, said in a statement.
Boeing’s website says the A160T can stay aloft for 24 hours and operate as high as 30,000 feet, 10,000 feet higher than conventional copters. It has a payload of 2,500 pounds, Boeing says.
The program is still open to other bidders, Pratson told CNN in an e-mail.
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Those little helicopters from Radioshack don't even work the way they're supposed to.
Oh this'll be fun to watch turn sour.
I hope you aren't seriously comparing a $20 toy, to a million dollar military aircraft...
Lol he's right look at that thing, id laugh if it ever try to shoot me lol
Arsio: Did you read the article? These helicopters are designed to deliver supplies, not shoot people. We already have drones that take care of the latter just fine.
This is a Utility helo not meant for attack. Think of these a mechanical pack mules that don't need a guide to show them where to go.
My concern is how long before the 15 chinese kids find out how to hack it and make it deliver weapons and supplies to our enemies?
looks pretty darn awesome to me. Not to mention very capable. I must say that would be pretty cool job.
K-MAX ottimo salvavita soldati.
What about a James Bond style action man parachute? Safer and cheaper.
@Rick from LA probably not long. Last I heard the predator drones don't use any kind of firewall so that the connection between controller and drone is fast and unhindered. I would bet these are the same.
$20 radio shack heli vs $2+ million military heli, u must be on just for laughs cuz ur soo funny...not
I read the comments and just wonder how we will avoid becoming a 3rd world nation.
".....Last I heard the predator drones don't use any kind of firewall......."
Right – I'm sure you can just telnet in and get it going like that little girl in Jerrasic Park. Don't you think they have some way to authenticate and encrypt commands. I know video was intercepted – now fixed – from drones – but commands.....
I'm waiting for India and China to outsource all their BS work to America – oh its coming at the rate of these comments.......
Its a better way to Hijack (JK) an Aircraft now all you need to do is get the remote-controller from who ever is controlling it.
wow where are a smart country. lol
Just one more step closer to living out the movie "Terminator".
Ever heard the phrase "The last pilot has already been born" ?
That million dollar military aircraft, which a group of terrorists with a cheap bomb have compelled us to use for supply deliveries in lieu of a $30,000 truck, shows that our Democrat leaders have not the common sense with which to win this war.
Jack, since IED's have been blowing up military vehicles and men since the war STARTED, I guess Republicans don't know how to run or win a war either.
I've lost buddies to those IED's and then had their funerals picketed by Westboro Batptist church! So kindly take your political ignorance somewhere else.
This is an idea LONG overdue. No risk to personnel, as there is no pilot, the command link will be secure, like the predator control links and supplies will arrive a LOT faster than a truck ever COULD get them to a forward operating base or even further forward.
And another item, the military hasn't gotten a truck for $30000 in decades. Learn what a heavy supply truck is worth.
"id laugh if it ever try to shoot me lol" What's the difference what it looks like? If it's capable of shooting at you you better be smart enough to take cover and try to eliminate the threat, not laugh.
Dude, if I were you, I've already contacted Pentagon telling them not to use helicopters from Radio Shack.
May be you'll get a medal for that.
Weren't those RadioShack helo made in China?
Yeah, what happens when The Enema hacks into your control system, and suddenly your multi-million-dollar remote control toy is chasing you down the street? Penguin's out there...
US Navy had operated unmanned radio controlled helicopters years ago to deliver full size torpedoes with live munitions against submarines at a stand-off range for the destroyer. This is use of helicopters is nothing new, albeit with bigger payloads and expanded parameters. Yes, I flew the birds.
http://www.gyrodynehelicopters.com/dash_history.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrodyne_QH-50_DASH
@ Arsio...then you'd be dead.
-not bob levy
Why unmanned Helicopters?? Whats wrong with human pilots. Don't want them to be put in harms way? LOL Hello people its war!!!!!!! Ys, thats right people get killed in war. ITs a fact of life. We have no more money to waste on this crap. Put a gun in a soldiers hands and send him into war for crying out loud
This is off topic but why haven't manned helicopters evolved to include ejection systems to give the pilots a chance to escape from a crashing helicopter?
Wonderful news, it keeps our personnel safe from the injuries on the ground. It can get into the difficult sites that cannot be reached by planes. When it works, our enemies will have to either fight in the open or surrender. It will make it much more difficult to attack us and we choose the location. Use technology to win the fight. No more amputations and brain injuries from the IEDs.
What has roadside bombs to do with manned or unmanned copter. They both go in air??
Roadside bombs tend to blow up things that are on the road on the side of which they are placed. Helicopters don't need roads and are safely above any reasonable blast radius of such devices. Thus, if you can send supplies through the air instead of over the road, you don't risk your supplies getting blown up by roadside bombs. If it's unmanned, then you don't even risk losing a trained pilot to some lucky small arms fire or SAMs.
Roads?! Where we're going, we don't need roads...
Nice, Doc. Heh. Made me spit out my coffee.
Billions spent on killing in Afghanistan, chump change spent on helping in Haiti.
Rise of the Machines. You THINK you have control.
What a waste of money. Seriously. We spend so much on defense it's pathetic. We're the best..can we leave it at that? Noo...let's waste 3.5 million dollars into a helicopter that's going to crash and crash until our guys in their little simulators get it right. Before you know it, the MACHINES will take over just like in the terminator and we'll all be sorry then.
😀 makes a good point, but is being sarcastic Chris.
Kang...let's see an unmanned aircraft could lock on to the target and blow it up.
Munk, here is the footage of an unmanned aircraft blowing up something, as you requested:
http://viralfootage.com/?p=3235
Yes, because we need to spend a lot more money in welfare and lazy people like you who do nothing but complain. If you don't like your freedom then feel free to get out of the country. Otherwise, stop complaining about Defense spending. If all research/development is stopped, you're just giving the other guys a chance to get ahead of you. But then again, who am I to change the liberal mind...
I guess you are one of the few dimmwits who are not aware that military, space and government research and development programs are responsible for the early development of the internet (ARPANET), propulsion, communication and electronics (early cell phones) battery technology and many more useful technologies we now use without thanks for that research.
I'll bet we end up spending a trillion a year on defense before 2020. Maybe even more.
BFBC2!!
Heheh, I totally get you.
BFBC2? nah, it was fun for a while but starcraft 2 is the only thing that gets me wet anymore.
bfbc2 vietnam oh ya
Oh and just use the helicopters we've got...there are plenty of people without jobs...create some jobs instead of wasting money on this right now.
I think that building the new craft might create a few jobs, and I'm sure the existing chopper pilots (who, being in the military have presumably good job security, since people aren't exactly enlisting in droves) would be happy to sit out these supply runs if it means they're not risking getting shot down over delivering some rations.
Dart, rations keep our troops fed. Idiot.
Texan, you are the idiot here. The entire flipping article is about drone helicopters delivering rations/supplies so that we don't risk losing pilots. Dart, or Darth as his name actually is, was making the correct point that the pilots won't mind sitting in a safe area controlling the drone from afar instead of risking their lives to deliver those rations piloting from inside the craft (instead they just risk losing the machine). He also was pointing out that this would create jobs as it would require people to design and build these helicopters.
I think the point is to quickly replace trucks with choppers. Getting something new in place can be better then ordering old design choppers and training new pilots. They are thinking strategically about solving this issue in my opinion.
And i thought Iran's flying boats were scary!!!!!
You should see their cows...
I read that article and saw the pics..... VERY IMPRESSSIVE!!
Not really new. Navy had them in the 60s.
This is GREAT news. Now we can kill even more of these Stone Age living nut cases without even putting our soldiers at risk. MORE!!! MORE!!!! MORE!!!!!
Easiest way to solve the problem is build one little drone. Add one little bomb and turn the whole place into a field of glass. Walla! Problem solved!
I bet you are an ignorant arrogant red neck and you are fathing from your mouth.
All these people talking about using nukes and making derogatory remarks about arabic people are most likely zionists or Israelis , the most racist regime on the planet.
You know Afghanis aren't arabs...right?
I'm an atheist and I say glass the bastages.
Build drone ground fighters.Not drone helos.
Thats next
nuke um and get it over with.
Go to limited nuke and get it over with.
If only they could get rid of that cord going to the battery pack on the ground now.
last time i checked thats supplies not a battery
That's the supplies, not the "battery pack". Drones still run on fuel you know...
aj was making a joke. And a pretty funny one, at that.
Can they make the drone helicopters look like the ones from Terminator 3?
Yes. But turbo fans are less effecient then standard rotor blades for verticle lift aircraft.
The technology for highly developed "unmanned" or "remote-controlled" military has existed for sometime now.. not to mention... fully robotic tactical military machines exist as well.. just think about it.. if the XBOX kinect can "see" you and recognize you the way it does.. what do u think the military has???
Kinect, eh? That'll be all well and good until the enemy sits down and thus becomes invisible! 😉