Aircraft
Lift, Near Earth Develop Casualty Evac Pod for U.S. Army
Modular payload container could be integrated with multiple air and ground vehicles
Lift Aircraft's Hexa VTOL vehicle
Lift Aircraft's Hexa VTOL is one of several vehicles that could be integrated with a new payload container being developed for military use with the U.S. Army.

The U.S. Army Applications Laboratory (AAL) has awarded Lift Aircraft a $1.65 million contract to design a modular container that could be integrated with multiple air and ground vehicles to carry payloads such as medical supplies and wounded troops needing to be evacuated. The VTOL aircraft developer announced the contract on October 1 and said it is partnered with Near Earth Autonomy to develop a system that could be operated autonomously in a variety of military applications.

According to Lift, the multi-mission unit is intended to have a payload limit of 300 pounds. It will have a vehicle-agnostic architecture to allow it to be easily installed on multiple platforms.