• 20 Jul 2024 07:56 PM
• 0

Marines to Evaluate Elroy’s Cargo Drone

Elroy Air announced on May 14 that it will participate in series of tests for a Marine Corps program that seeks to develop a drone that can resupply forward-deployed ground forces. Elroy is partnering with the defense firm Leidos to demonstrate the possibilities of Elroy’s Chaparral system as a prototype for the Medium Aerial Resupply Vehicle — Expeditionary Logistics (MARV-EL) program. The tests are set to begin in July and take place at the US Army’s Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona. The Chaparral is a hybrid-electric VTOL cargo aircraft that combines wing-borne and vertical flight. The Navy and Marine Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems program office (PMA-263) manages the MARV-EL program, previously known as Medium Unmanned Logistics System — Air (MULS-A), which seeks to provide a “middle-weight” uncrewed logistics asset for combat sustainment missions, according to the program description (see “Uncrewed Marine Logistics,” Vertiflite, Jul/Aug 2024).