Reliable Robotics adds to defence advisory board
Reliable Robotics has appointed General Richard D. Clarke (ret.) and General Mike Minihan (ret.) to its Defense Advisory Board.
Clarke previously served as the Commander of US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). Minihan was the former Commander of Air Mobility Command (AMC). The two will join a board laser-focused on bringing dual-use aircraft autonomy to the US military.
As the 12th Commander of USSOCOM, Clarke led a joint force of more than 75,000 military members with an annual operating budget over $25b.
“Reliable’s innovative and ground-breaking work to bring dual-use aircraft autonomy that incorporates redundancy and airspace integration capabilities to our warfighters is transformational,” said Clarke.
These technologies will enable USSOCOM and other units to perform logistics, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in contested environments, without putting our warfighters at risk, he said.
“The applications in the Indo-Pacific for small, distributed teams, who are geographically dispersed, will cause dilemmas to our adversaries. Adding autonomy to existing commercial airframes, such as the Cessna 208B Caravan is an ideal way to deliver new capabilities quickly and at lower cost,” he explained.
Serving as the Commander of AMC, Minihan was responsible for joint force air mobility missions which included nearly 1,100 aircraft and 107,000 active-duty Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve Airmen and civilians.
“Establishing a cost-effective airlift capability that leverages dual-use autonomy and enables around-the-clock logistics will be a game changer for the United States military, especially for operations in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Minihan. “Concepts such as Agile Combat Employment require more aircraft distributed across a large number of locations. This will require greater refuelling capacity and higher volume cargo operations, all of which will necessitate cost-effective autonomy for the KC-135 and smaller cargo aircraft.”
Reliable was recently awarded an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract that enables all branches of the military and combatant commands to leverage the company’s aircraft-agnostic automation capabilities.
The firm also delivered a US Air Force-commissioned roadmap for automating the KC-135 Stratotanker, and was awarded a competitive AFWERX Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) contract to perform uncrewed flights for the military.
Robert Rose, co-founder and CEO at Reliable Robotics added: “We are committed to delivering aircraft autonomy that reduces risk for our warfighters and accelerates the acquisition process; working with retired Generals Clarke and Minihan to achieve this goal is an honour.”
