The U.S. Air Force has entered into an agreement with Merlin to demonstrate the company’s autonomous flight technology on the KC-135 Stratotanker, the company announced.
Under the deal announced Tuesday, Merlin will design, integrate, test, and demonstrate aspects of its Merlin Pilot autonomous flight technology on the aerial refueling tanker. In-flight demonstrations will take place in the next year, starting with a series of basic air refueling operations that reduce aircrew workload and eventually proceeding to operations with reduced crew numbers, according to the company.
