U.S. Air Force Buys Autonomous Freighter from Reliable Robotics | Aviation International News

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

U.S. Air Force Buys Autonomous Freighter from Reliable Robotics

Fully automated Cessna 208B Grand Caravan will be deployed overseas

U.S. Air Force personnel load cargo into Reliable Robotics' autonomous Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster — U.S. Air Force personnel load cargo into Reliable Robotics' autonomous Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster for the Agile Flag 24-3 exercise at the Mojave Air and Space Port in August 2024. (Photo: Reliable Robotics)

By Hanneke Weitering • Science & Technology Editor

August 27, 2025

Flight automation start-up Reliable Robotics has scored a $17.4 million U.S. Air Force contract to launch an autonomous cargo logistics program with a fully automated Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, the company announced Tuesday. The contract covers the purchase, integration, and testing of the Reliable Autonomy System (RAS) on a 208B freighter variant known as the “Super Cargomaster.”

“The United States Air Force will purchase a Reliable Autonomy System from Reliable, and it will also buy a Cessna 208 from Reliable, separately. Under the contract, we will retrofit the aircraft with RAS and then ship it out for flight testing.” retired Maj. Gen. David O’Brien, senior v-p of government solutions at Reliable Robotics, told AIN. “We will begin working on the contract at the end of the year, with R&D happening in the first half of 2026 and operations happening from 2026-2027.”

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