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" Roadside bombs have transformed what should be a simple task\u2014delivering food and supplies to forward bases\u2014not one of the most dangerous missions in Afghanistan. Since December, however, the Navy and Marine Corps have been trying out a new solution to this problem: K-MAX, an unmanned helicopter that is designed to transport large amounts of cargo and help to alleviate the need for manned ground convoys. K-MAX is a type of synchropter, essentially a helicopter with intermeshing rotors that spin in different directions to optimize the amount of lift an aircraft can create. It can operate without a tail rotor. Charles Kaman, who died earlier this year, invented the K-MAX back in the 1940s. Since then it has been used heavily in the logging industry because of its stability and hovering ability. Over the last few months, though, the military&amp;#039;s new unmanned version of K-MAX has been flying in Afghanistan, primarily to ferry meals ready to eat (MREs) between bases to keep ground vehicles from making the trip on IED-infested roads. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s really over there to prove that [the] unmanned K-MAX can take trucks off the road,&amp;quot; says Jim Naylor, Lockheed Martin&amp;#039;s business development director for K-MAX. So far, so good: The military and Lockheed say that K-MAX has flown 237 missions since mid-December\u2013about five a day\u2014and has delivered about 600,000 pounds of cargo. All this while having low maintenance requirements and no accidents since the synchropter began service in Afghanistan.       K-MAX&amp;#039;s path to Afghanistan started with a 2007 partnership between Kaman Aircraft and Lockheed Martin; the duo eventually won a Navy and Marine Corps competition for unmanned cargo-carrying aircraft. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ve been asked why we picked the K-MAX platform,&amp;quot; Naylor says. &amp;quot;Really the reason we picked it is it was designed for this mission.&amp;quot; Yet synchropters like K-MAX have limitations. The &amp;quot;flying crane,&amp;quot; as it is sometimes called, is designed for lifting heavy cargo and hovering, but not for traveling at high speeds or great distances. The manned version of the aircraft has also suffered a fair number of crashes over the years (13 of the 38 K-MAX helos ever built have been destroyed somehow, Lockheed says), though supporters of the aircraft say it&amp;#039;s not due to any inherent flaw of the K-MAX. Terry Fogarty, the general manager of the Unmanned Aerial Systems product group at Kaman, says that the accidents are related primarily to the large number of hours that the K-MAX has flown for the lumber industry. &amp;quot;In the logging mission, the flight profile is inherently dangerous,&amp;quot; Fogarty says. Even for experienced pilots, hovering just above treetops leaves little margin for error. And in logging operations, pilots are often transporting short distances many times a day, whereas the mission in Afghanistan requires flying fewer flights over longer distances. The latter is actually easier on the aircraft, Fogarty says, which is why K-MAX is so well-suited to the mission in Afghanistan. So far, the Navy and Marine Corps seem to agree. &amp;quot;The K-MAX is a very simple, rugged, purpose-designed helicopter,&amp;quot; says Eric Pratson, the Integrated Product Team Lead for the Navy and Marine Corps&amp;#039; Cargo Unmanned Aircraft System. The lingering question, though, is whether the current K-MAX mission is a one-time trial run or the start of a long-term trend that could shift battlefield logistics to unmanned aircraft. The Navy bought only two unmanned K-MAX aircraft from Lockheed and Kaman, and it&amp;#039;s not certain whether it plans to buy more. Right now the Pentagon is operating under a &amp;quot;military user assessment,&amp;quot; which helps determine whether the aircraft is suitable for the mission.  &amp;quot;While initial feedback from the [military user assessment] is very positive, it would be premature to invest in additional units given current fiscal realities,&amp;quot; Patterson says. In other words, we&amp;#039;ll see how well K-MAX works over the long term\u2014and whether there&amp;#039;s money to buy more. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a7573/k-max-the-militarys-new-unmanned-delivery-drone-7675091/>