Military Embedded Systems

Autonomous aerial resupply drone to be tested by Leidos, Elroy Air for USMC

News

May 15, 2024

Dan Taylor

Technology Editor

Military Embedded Systems

Autonomous aerial resupply drone to be tested by Leidos, Elroy Air for USMC
Image via Leidos

RESTON, Virginia. Leidos and Elroy Air will collaborate on a demonstration of an autonomous aerial resupply vehicle for the U.S. Marine Corps called the Medium Aerial Resupply Vehicle – Expeditionary Logistics (MARV-EL) prototype, which is set for flight testing in July 2024 at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, the companies announced in a joint statement.

This initiative is part of an ongoing contract with the Navy and Marine Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems program office (PMA-263) to develop and validate an uncrewed aircraft system capable of autonomously delivering supplies to forward-deployed forces, the statement reads. The system being tested is Elroy Air's Chaparral, a hybrid-electric vertical take-off and landing (hVTOL) cargo aircraft, which offers "lift-plus-cruise" capabilities.

The Chaparral uses wing-borne flight and electric propulsion, enhanced by turbo-generation, to facilitate efficient and extended-range autonomous missions, the statement reads.

The MARV-EL project is designed to offer rapid response logistics support to Marine Corps units engaged in advanced base operations and other distributed missions, providing a resupply service when traditional manned or ground transport options are impracticable, the companies say.

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