Mary-Louise Hoffman
Lockheed Martin has collaborated with Kaman Aerospace and Neya Systems to demonstrate the potential of an unmanned aerial vehicle to help evacuate injured soldiers from the battlefield.
The companies worked to operate a K-MAX unmanned helicopter and a ground control infrastructure to locate and transport a wounded individual to safety during a March 26 demonstration, Lockheed said Wednesday.
Ground-based UAV operators used a tablet to identify the casualty’s exact location and find a safe landing area, according to Lockheed.
“Since the K-MAX returned from a nearly three-year deployment with the U.S. Marine Corps, we’ve seen benefits of and extended our open system design incorporating the UAS control segment architecture,” said Jay McConville, director of business development at Lockheed’s mission systems and training unit.
McConville added the architecture is designed to integrate multiple software applications to support autonomous missions.
The Marine Corps used K-MAX helicopters to supply cargo to military personnel during operations held between 2011 and 2014.
