Reliable Robotics, a company in autonomous aircraft systems, announced the award of competitive funding under the AFWERX Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) program for the United States Department of the Air Force (USAF). This TACFI funding is an extension of prior Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) efforts and has opportunities to expand further in the future. The funding will be used to perform additional flights for representative military missions in a UAS (Uncrewed Aircraft System) configuration.

The TACFI funding also includes matching investment from Eclipse Ventures. “Eclipse believes in the dual-market application of aircraft autonomy and we are excited to provide the commercial matching funds to support this TACFI award for Reliable Robotics to further demonstrate autonomous capabilities for the Department of Defense,” said Greg Reichow, Eclipse Partner. “Reliable is leading the industry with the maturity of its autonomous flight technology, and has made unparalleled progress on certification with the Federal Aviation Administration.”

This TACFI award will further both the commercial development of Reliable’s autonomous flight system and operationally relevant UAS military cargo missions, meeting both Department of Defense (DoD) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness standards. The UAS will be equipped with FAA-certifiable conforming hardware and software, including redundant systems and a ground control station for remote piloting.

“The Department of the Air Force needs autonomy to win. Autonomous aircraft systems with high reliability will support immediate air logistics requirements and strategic operational imperatives such as resilient basing, readiness to deploy and fight, and tactical air dominance,” said Lt Col Josh Fehd, AFWERX Autonomy Prime Branch Chief.

Reliable’s safety-enhancing automation system is aircraft-agnostic, and incorporates redundancy, high integrity navigation and an “always on” autopilot that is engaged through all phases of aircraft operation from taxi to takeoff to landing. Reliable has the only certification plan for full aircraft automation formally accepted by the FAA (2023), and all requirements for the aircraft navigation and autopilot systems agreed upon (2024) signaling the technology is on a clear path to certification.

“Fully redundant, fail-safe aircraft automation is the foundation for scalable autonomy for the defense and commercial markets,” said Robert Rose, Co-founder and CEO at Reliable Robotics. “Reliable’s autonomous flight system has been designed and developed to rigorous FAA standards and to integrate seamlessly into the National Airspace System; this TACFI gives us the opportunity to showcase how these capabilities will benefit America’s warfighters.”

Reliable has been collaborating with the USAF since 2021, most recently demonstrating autonomous cargo missions during the weeklong AGILE FLAG exercise in August 2024. Reliable also delivered a KC-135 Stratotanker Automation Roadmap commissioned by the USAF earlier in 2024, validating that Reliable’s commercially developed technology can be scaled to automate all phases of KC-135 operation.

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