Avionics supplier Honeywell on Monday announced the start of an investment and collaboration agreement with autonomy provider Near Earth Autonomy to bid on for autonomous rotorcraft.
Honeywell said the initial example of this agreement is their teaming with Leonardo Helicopters as a competitor in the Marine Corps Aerial Logistics Connector (ALC) prototype program.
In July, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) selected Near Earth to lead this ALC team to offer advanced autonomy on the Leonardo AW139 helicopter. At the time, the company said this 20 month-long initiative aims to demonstrate solutions able to transport various kinds of cargo and for casualty evacuation in a contested environment in both crewed and uncrewed configurations.
NAVAIR’s prototype program specifically seeks to demonstrate rapid deployment of cargo up to 3,000 pounds over a 200 nautical mile radius, with the Marine Corps looking for aircraft to be operational by 2030. The prototype program uses an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA).
Earlier this year, the Marine Corps first selected the unmanned version of Airbus’ UH-72 Lakota helicopter as a competitor in ALC. At the time, Airbus said with a contract agreement for Middle Tier Acquisition rapid prototyping with an OTA, the goal is to transition the prototype to fielding within five years.
The AW139 Near Earth-led ALC team is dividing the work into having Leonardo implement a fast-loading, security and unloading system for Joint Modular Intermodal Containers (JMIC) on its AW139; Honeywell currently provides the helicopter’s autopilot and will augment it for autonomous take-off and landing; and Near Earth will demonstrate a full integrated logistics system with onboard autonomy to guide the aircraft and modify flight trajectory to avoid hazards.
Near Earth will also demonstrate mission autonomy so “lightly trained” personnel can request, dispatch, monitor and retask supply deliveries.
“The ALC program is focused on achieving assured autonomy on an unprecedented scale. We are excited to partner with Honeywell, a leader in avionics and flight control, to create a comprehensive system for aerial logistics that can rapidly be put into commonplace use,” Sanjiv Singh, CEO of Near Earth, said in a statement.
Honeywell underscored the larger collaboration with Near Earth will allow them to jointly explore more opportunities for rotorcraft and unmanned aerial systems beyond the ALC Marine Corps initiative.
“Uncrewed aircraft are a vital means of keeping service men and women out of harm’s way in contested environments. But they must also be advanced enough to reliably and efficiently perform their missions, even in GPS-denied environments. Together with Near Earth, we’re seeking to advance the reliability and functionality of autonomous technology and build products that support autonomous operations globally,” Matt Milas, president for defense and space at Honeywell Aerospace Technologies, said in a statement.
Milas also noted they plan to focus on retrofitting existing platforms so that they will “be able to deliver rapid, scalable solutions.”
Honeywell said the agreement will support the company’s “portfolio alignment” to three megatrends, the future of aviation, automation, and energy transition.
This is the second autonomous partnership Honeywell unveiled this month. It recently announced a partnership with autonomous military aircraft software developer Merlin to focus on fixed-wing military aircraft.
A version of this story originally appeared in affiliate publication Defense Daily.