Unmanned K-Max Helos Return from Afghanistan

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Unmanned K-Max Helos Return from Afghanistan

    
        
            
        
        
            
        
    

 

 


A Lockheed-Kaman K-Max back home in Owego, New York. Photo courtesy Lockheed Martin.



By Brett Davis



Two Lockheed Martin-Kaman K-Max helicopters are back at Lockheed’s Owego, New York, facility after a planned six-month demonstration in Afghanistan turned into a nearly three-year deployment.



The unmanned variants of the Kaman Aerospace-built helicopters can lift 6,000 pounds at a time and ended up flying more than 1,950 sorties for a total of more than 2,150 flight hours, hauling more than 4.5 million pounds of supplies and cargo to forward operating bases and other locations.



The primary goals of the demonstration were to move cargo without putting Marines, soldiers, and sailors in the way of improvised explosive devices and to gather data on unmanned cargo delivery.



The systems had to earn the respect of the Marines in theater, company and military officials said 24 July in a conference call. Maj. Kyle O’Connor, the rotary, tiltrotor and UAS pipeline training officer for the Marine Corps, said in the call that early missions were just for show, but once the Marines realized what the unmanned K-Max could do, it was pressed into service.



“… Early on what they did was they made some test cargo pallets for us to move around, and as we showed our ability to move it to various FOBs and to bring it back, that built the trust and the confidence in the Marine leadership that was out there. We were able to move away from moving cargo for the sake of moving cargo to actually moving stuff that [was] needed,” such as a 6,000 pound generator at one point.



The system typically flew at night, without lights, to avoid enemy attacks, and typically flew at altitudes higher than small arms fire could reach.



The company is planning further demonstrations of the system stateside for the Marine Corps, including one that will pair it with unmanned ground vehicles. Eventually it could transition into a program of record, although that is still “in the planning stages only,” says Capt. Patrick Smith, program manager for the Navy and Marine Corps Multi-Mission Tactical UAS Program Office.



“We’re trying to continue those demonstrations so we can come up with a very precise and achievable set of requirements to go forward with,” Smith said.