SUPPLY FLIGHTS TO combat outposts could be handled by robotic aircraft in just a few years' time, if new US Navy and Marine Corps initiatives pan out as planned. In recent months, the Marines have begun field-testing a simple, remote-controlled, unmanned, cargo helicopter. Meanwhile, the Navy has launched a program to develop a sophisticated control system that could transfer almost any vertical take-off aircraft into a highly autonomous cargo-delivery vehicle. The Marine test and the Navy development program both have their roots in the Afghanistan war. The country's rugged terrain and dearth of good roads have stretched the Pentagon's ability to keep forward outposts adequately supplied. In a decade of war, scores of NATO helicopters have crashed or been shot down during routine supply runs. The difficult conditions can also make for complicated aeromedical evacuations.
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