The military certainly has their fair share of “toys” to play with, and by that, I mean highly destructive weapons that will be able to deal a whole lot of hurt to the party on the receiving end. Well, Advanced Tactics has come up with the Black Knight design, where this particular “transformer” (a transforming mode of transport) could very well make its maiden flight soon.
In a bunch of hover tests, the Black Knight’s autopilot managed to crank up its rotors to speed and lift off, helping maintain a maximum height of 10 feet for safety purposes. There was a remote human pilot present, although much of the flight was left to the machinations and devices of the autopilot. Considering how the military is beginning to pare down flight crews and to increase their reliance on advanced autopilots, it would be nice to see the Black Knight fit itself well with the rest of the U.S. armed forces landscape down the road.
The Black Knight has the ability to transporting up to 1,000 pounds of cargo, where it can also be outfitted with an amphibious hull to turn it into a more-advanced, heavier transport version of the vehicle, if the development track is on the right path. That version too, will be autonomous in nature and can carry a payload of up to 3,500 pounds, with enough in its reserves to sustain flight for up to 19 hours.
Filed in . Read more about Science.