Kaman is an innovative American helicopter company that has now also entered the unmanned space. And as it announced a few days ago, its specialized, large-sized unmanned, in the role of cargo transport, has started a test flight program since last December.
Kargo as it is called, is a “beastly” (by the standards of the category) quadcopter, with a gross take-off weight of 700 kg, and can carry 360 kg of cargo. The movement is given by a Rolls Royce RR300 gas turbine, and is transferred through chains to the 4 horizontal propellers, i.e. in a purely mechanical way and without the use of electric motors as is usually done.
Kargo – in development from 2021 – is funded under the Medium Aerial Resupply Vehicle – Expeditionary Logistics (MARV-EL) program of the US Marines, who are looking for a medium-sized unmanned vehicle to carry critical supplies to their units. This can be ammunition, food and water, fuel, etc. without employing – and endangering – manned helicopters. The air vehicle can carry cargo either in a special space at the bottom, or suspended on a cable.
The company also sees in Kargo many commercial applications, either as a transporter, or for monitoring large areas, or for controlling critical facilities and in adverse environments, e.g. offshore oil rigs where smaller quadcopters will not be able to take off due to weather conditions.
