HASC seeks insight into Air Force, DOD plans for cargo drones

Lawmakers want to know more about how the Air Force and Pentagon might employ autonomous cargo drones to resupply troops in remote locations in the future, according to reports attached to the House Armed Services Committee’s draft version of the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization bill.

The Air Force’s agile combat employment concept for operating in contested areas entails small teams of Airmen dispersing to remote locations in the Pacific, then operating from ad hoc airfields in a bid to make it harder for adversaries to locate and target them. But resupplying small, spread-out airfields so they can continue to generate airpower won’t be easy.

Several companies are working on the challenge. Grid Aero unveiled its “Lifter Lite” drone last August, a “flying pickup truck” that could carry up to 8,000 pounds of cargo for distances up to about 1,500 miles. The firm said it received $6 million in seed funding and a small business innovation research Phase II contract from AFWERX, the Air Force’s innovation arm.

Read more at Air and Space Forces Magazine