Autonomous Cessna air ambulance to be tested in Morocco

The plan covers takeoff, a flight to a designated pickup point, landing, a simulated loading of a casualty and the return to base. All of it is meant to happen without anyone steering from the ground.

How does the autonomous air ambulance work?

The aircraft will carry Merlin Pilot, which is not a simple autopilot holding a heading. It is meant to plan the mission itself, choose a route from the task it is given, react to threats and talk to air traffic controllers using natural language processing. If the link to its operator is cut, it should keep flying the approved plan, within limits set beforehand.

That matters in Africa, where US troops can be hundreds of kilometres from a properly equipped medical facility and communications can be patchy.

The Caravan has a large side cargo door and a flat floor, so a stretcher fits without special lifting gear. Merlin plans a medical module with oxygen, power and mounts for monitoring equipment. The plane will not treat anyone. Only the flying is autonomous. The military calls this kind of job CASEVAC, casualty evacuation using whatever transport is available.

What happens next?

So far Merlin has shown a plan, not results. Loading will be simulated. Merlin also works with US Special Operations Command on C-130J transports, with a further $8.9 million order announced on 10 November, and is considering twin-engine King Air planes that could carry several patients and medical staff.

Flying alone is only part of the problem. Failure procedures and the question of who is responsible when a computer carries a person are still open. A successful December run would give the military a basis for long-range autonomous evacuation.