en.Wedoany.com Reported - US company Merlin has announced it is developing an autonomous flight system called "Condor" for large cargo aircraft. Centered around the Merlin Pilot, the system is designed for large multi-crew aircraft, including civilian cargo planes and the C-130J military transport aircraft. The Merlin Pilot is responsible for tasks such as system monitoring, environmental awareness, and communication during flight, aiming to assist pilot operations.
The company stated that the system has completed hundreds of test flights across multiple aircraft types and is currently collaborating with the US Special Operations Command on the airworthiness certification of the C-130J, having passed the preliminary design review in March this year. Meanwhile, Merlin is working with cargo aircraft lessor World Star Aviation and actively positioning itself in the passenger-to-freighter conversion market.
Merlin CEO and founder Matt George pointed out that the pilot shortage is causing structural impacts on operators, while the current conversion market has reached record levels, providing a window of opportunity to integrate autonomous technology into passenger-to-freighter conversions and new-build aircraft. The Condor product line, with the Merlin Pilot at its core, is designed to extend autonomous capabilities to large multi-crew aircraft.
However, achieving commercial operation still faces multiple challenges. Merlin needs to complete civil airworthiness certification, demonstrate the system's ability to handle fault and abnormal conditions, complete type integration for different aircraft models, and meet operational requirements for training, maintenance, scheduling, and crew procedures. Any plan to move from cockpit assistance to reduced-crew operations would also require additional regulatory scrutiny.
Regulatory bodies currently favor a gradual approach. The Federal Aviation Administration's AI safety roadmap requires the introduction of artificial intelligence through existing certification processes, and a recent congressional report explicitly stated that FAA funds may not be used to support the reduction of cockpit crew in Part 121 operations. In its recent study on reduced-crew operations, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency concluded that current cockpit designs cannot demonstrate an equivalent level of safety for extended minimum-crew operations. In the near term, the most likely application scenario for the Merlin Pilot remains a cockpit assistance role, rather than replacing essential crew members.
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