Merlin Pilot To Join Next-Gen Beacon Testbed Project

Merlin, a developer of assured autonomous flight technology for fixed-wing aircraft, announced it reached an agreement with Northrop Grumman to integrate the Merlin Pilot system onto Beacon, the next-generation testbed revealed by the defense giant in June.

Merlin is the prime contractor with the U.S. Special Operations Command, or USSOCOM, for integrating autonomy on the C-130J and is also advancing work on the KC-135. This collaboration with Northrop Grumman will accelerate next-gen uncrewed systems, lowering risk, and bolsters Merlin’s strategy of platform-agnostic systems. It also represents an important step in adding the Scaled Composites Model 437 Vanguard to its growing portfolio.

The Model 437 has been modified for optionally autonomous flight for the Beacon project and with Merlin Pilot, will be getting new mission and flight autonomy with its software for crucial testing and validation work. Merlin will manage engineering integration for software-in-the-loop (SIL) testing as well as flight test operations. Merlin will also contribute to the development of documentation and test procedure, participate in mission planning sessions, and deploy personnel on-site for flight testing in Mojave, California.

Tom Jones, Corporate Vice President and President of Aeronautics Systems for Northrop Grumman said, “We look forward to working with our partners to integrate their innovative capabilities that will accelerate the development of future autonomous platforms.

“Beacon is about collaboration across industry between companies of all sizes and expertise. By providing access to the Beacon ecosystem, we’re enhancing innovation, new competition and ultimately the autonomous capabilities that industry can deliver to our customers – with unmatched speed and at scale.”

Matt George, CEO and Founder of Merlin explained, “The demand for autonomous capabilities, especially in defense applications, is accelerating rapidly. Our collaboration with Northrop Grumman marks a major milestone in advancing mission autonomy—combining Merlin’s innovative software with the scale, rigor, and hardware expertise Northrop Grumman offers, which is needed for real-world deployment.”

“The significance of joining the Beacon™ project is that it allows us to validate our technology on military aircraft and in mission-relevant environments, but also enables us to test and adapt new capabilities from Northrop Grumman for future Merlin efforts,” he added.

FMI:  merlinlabs.com/