Autonomous flight company Merlin has won a U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) contract to take part in the first phase of the command’s Autonomous Casualty Evacuation (CASEVAC) Industry Technology Challenge, the Boston-based company announced on November 11.
The $500,000 contract funds a demonstration of the Merlin Pilot system flying a CASEVAC mission on its own in a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan. Merlin says the demonstration is planned for early in the U.S. government’s 2027 fiscal year in Morocco and will cover the whole mission: tasking and flight planning, autonomous departure and cruise to an austere casualty collection site, simulated patient loading, and the autonomous return flight and landing.
Why autonomy for CASEVAC
Merlin notes that AFRICOM’s area of responsibility involves long distances and security threats that can put nearby medical care out of reach. Crewed evacuation flights expose personnel to risk, while remotely piloted aircraft depend on command-and-control links that may not be available in austere or contested areas.
The company says Merlin Pilot is designed to handle route planning, navigation, contingencies and mission completion onboard, without a ground station or flight crew. That includes replanning around hazards, talking to air traffic control using natural language processing, and continuing on its authorized plan if the communications link drops. For the demonstration, the Caravan’s cabin will carry an air ambulance medical module with oxygen, power and mounts for patient monitoring equipment, and its large cargo door allows litters to be loaded at ground level.
Merlin says it sees a follow-on path to operational scale using a King Air variant, which would add twin-engine redundancy and room for multiple litter patients and an in-flight attendant. The company recently flew a demonstration at Alliance Airport during the kickoff of the Texas Department of Transportation’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP).
Source: Merlin via GlobeNewswire.