U.S. Marines' Resupply Drone Undergoes Field Assessment

The Marines assessed a two prototypes of Tactical Resupply Unmanned Aircraft System (TRUAS) in March at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona.

The prototypes were identified by a successful prize challenge in last year. Anticipated future end users were given the opportunity to work with both prototype systems – Survice Engineering’s TRV-150 and Chartis Federal’s MK4-RX – to assess the capability in order to inform the final requirement for TRUAS, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) said in a statement.

The prototypes were designed to meet the Marines initial requirements for an autonomous unmanned system that can transport at least 60 pounds of cargo in various configurations commonly found in Marine company/platoon/squad resupply operations (ex: 5-gallon water can, ammo can/case, Meals-Ready-to-Eat case) through a 10-kilometer radius.

During the assessment, two groups of Marines replicated a full day resupply of an infantry squadron after the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) provided three days of system training and a day of pilot evaluation. The process was repeated so that all field users had the opportunity to evaluate both platforms independently.

This capability is relatively new to the Marine Corps, and the event was designed to allow Marines to employ the systems as they would in the field and provide feedback that will be incorporated into the final requirement for fielded systems. This type of feedback is typically not provided until the end of the acquisition cycle, giving the Marines participating in this event a loud voice to help shape the way unmanned logistics resupply is implemented for the fleet.