Navy to fly drone helicopters from tablet app: The Pentagon is pushing the envelope yet again with a new $100 million, five-year program that aims to turn assorted military helicopters into a fleet of autonomous unmanned choppers.
When all is said and done, the program is expected to give United States troops another advantage in the battlefield by allowing them the ability to fly in choppers hauling valuable cargo without risking the lives of American pilots.
According to Pentagon officials, the military is already making immense progress with the Autonomous Aerial Cargo and Utility System, or AACUS program, and Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder - the US Navy's chief of research - told the Wall Street Journal that recent advances are an example of "truly leap-ahead technology." Officials told Reuters that the system has been tested on three different types of helicopters already.
In a video uploaded to YouTube by the Navy this week, the Naval Research Laboratory demonstrated how the addition of a 100-pound sensor and software package to different types of rotary wing aircraft, both manned and unmanned, can transform those vehicles into cargo-carrying drones that can then be controlled remotely using an iPad-like tablet computer.
This technology, the Navy said on their YouTube page, "will provide the US Marine Corps with the ability to rapidly support forces on the front lines, as an alternative to convoys, manned aircraft or air drops in all weather and possibly hostile conditions, with minimal training required by the requester."
