United States Air Force signs purchase agreement with Reliable Robotics

Reliable Robotics will provide automated aircraft to the United States Air Force. The contract includes the purchase, integration, and test of the Reliable Autonomy System onboard a Cessna 208B aircraft. The company’s FAA-certifiable technology enables continuous operations at a fractional cost compared to legacy systems. By adding autonomous capabilities to proven, type certified aircraft, operators realize greater safety, flexibility, and efficiency in the execution of their mission sets.

The Reliable Autonomy System is a complete solution for the integration of large uncrewed aircraft systems into both civil and military airspaces. The system fully automates aircraft through all phases of operation including taxi, takeoff, enroute and landing. Reliable’s system is aircraft agnostic and utilizes multiple layers of redundancy and advanced navigation technology to improve safety and achieve the levels of integrity and reliability necessary for uncrewed flight.

 General Mike Minihan, former Commander of Air Mobility Command commented: “Autonomous aircraft are a true force multiplier, enabling every service’s agility concepts—especially Agile Combat Employment, where success depends on rapid, unpredictable logistics across dispersed hubs. Reliable’s automation shows how the Air Force is leveraging autonomy not just to reduce risk, but to expand the number and diversity of locations where sustainment can go—directly, securely, and at the tempo required to win.”

Robert Rose, CEO and co-founder, Reliable Robotic stated: “Reliable is taking the first step to redefining military aviation mobility. This deployment is about bringing a dual-use autonomy system to improve safety and boost operational tempo at scale.”

This contract is the latest collaboration between Reliable and the Air Force to advance autonomous aviation at the speed of need. The company has worked with the Air Force through a variety of contracts and exercises designed to research, collaborate, develop, and implement autonomy onto the Cessna 208B Caravan and KC-135 Stratotanker. The company also recently announced its work to support the development of the Autonomy Government Reference Architecture (A-GRA), the Air Force’s extensible multi-platform and multi-mission autonomy architecture, to ensure it benefits from Reliable’s recent advancements in commercially certifiable autonomy.

This research was, in part, funded by the U.S. Government. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Government.