FutureFlight
Textron Teams with Xwing To Bring Autonomous Flight Capability to Its Aircraft
The general aviation manufacturer is looking to Xwing to support plans for both existing and new aircraft to be equipped for remotely piloted operations, starting with its Cessna Grand Caravan.
Xwing Marc Piette
Xwing founder and CEO Marc Piette has welcomed the opportunity to develop his company's autonomous flight technology in partnership with Textron Aviation. (Photo: Xwing)

Textron Aviation is to jointly develop autonomous flight capability for its current and future aircraft under a partnership with Xwing. A non-exclusive agreement signed on October 12 calls for the companies’ engineering teams to develop and certify remote piloting technology for Textron’s Cessna Grand Caravan utility aircraft.

California-based Xwing is already operating a converted Caravan under an experimental certificate for research and development purposes with a supervising pilot on board. In addition, it has commercial operations with Caravans through its Part 135 subsidiary San Antonio Air Charter. It has applied to the FAA for clearance to fly its experimental aircraft commercially with a ground-based pilot and safety pilot on board, and this approval is still in process.