Lockheed Martin’s Autonomous Helicopter Wins Contract [Lockheed Martin's Unmanned Helicopter Can Carry Supplies At Long Ranges]

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Well, it’s not every day you get to update your own work on the fly, but remember when I told you about the Yale Aerial Manipulator? Yeah, like forty minutes ago. But as it turns out, Lockheed Martin’s already done something similar, but much bigger.

You’re looking at a shot of Lockheed Martin’s autonomous helicopter, which just won a production contract with the United States military. Sure, it doesn’t have the Yale Aerial Manipulator’s claw-grip hand, or its indoor beer-fetching capability, but what it does have is amazing.

The Lockheed Martin autonomous helicopter, the ATUAS K-Max by name, can lift up to one and a half tons (3,000 pounds) and can travel for 150 nautical miles per tank of fuel. It can even carry a strictly optional pilot for manual control as needed.

The ATUAS K-Max could see action by the end of 2011 in Afghanistan, where helicopters that fly themselves would be very welcome.