Kaman Air Vehicles, a division of Kaman Aerospace Corporation, announced the first flight of its new unmanned helicopter, the K-MAX TITAN. The world's first heavy lift unmanned helicopter for the commercial market, K-MAX TITAN leads the way in repetitive, heavy lift without the constraints of manned operations. With a focus on enabling safety and operational efficiency, the proprietary K-MAX TITAN system will redefine the helicopter external lift market by increasing future mission capabilities in any location and any type of weather.

"We are excited to reach this major milestone on K-MAX TITAN – watching this capability take to the skies and knowing that we are going to solve some of the toughest challenges for our commercial and military customers," stated Roger Wassmuth, Senior Director, Business Development, Air Vehicles Division.

Concurrent with commercial development, Kaman is working with the U.S. Marine Corps on upgrading the autonomous capabilities of their two USMC K-MAX air vehicles through a funded government contract. Flight-testing is expected to start in May 2021. The USMC experiment includes Kaman's K-MAX TITAN unmanned system and Near Earth Autonomy's sensor-based autonomy suite.

"Kaman leads the way with innovative solutions for our customers that are reliable, affordable and sustainable. K-MAX TITAN is no exception, whether the mission calls for firefighting, humanitarian assistance, or distributed logistics," stated Darlene Smith, President, Air Vehicles and Precision Products Divisions.

The new K-MAX TITAN system will be available for existing K-MAX aircrafts as well as on new production K-MAX helicopters. The K-MAX is a rugged, low-maintenance aircraft that features a counter-rotating rotor system and is optimised for repetitive external load operations. The aircraft can lift up to 6,000 pounds (2,722 kg) with unmatched performance in hot and high conditions.