Robot helicopter makes history

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Robot helicopter makes history

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A Marine unmanned squadron moved almost 6,000 pounds of gear with the drone helicopter.

01 June,2012 11:28 am

A robot helicopter has hauled more than 1 million pounds of cargo for the US Marine Corps in less than half a year of testing, but nobody had ever tried hooking cargo to the unmanned helicopter as it hovered in midair. Marines finally made aviation history by completing whats known as a hot hookup in Afghanistan last week.That hot hookup success means the Kaman K1200 K-MAX helicopter can swoop in to grab military gear without bothering to land. A Marine unmanned squadron moved almost 6,000 pounds of gear with the drone helicopter to Marines in hard-to-reach locations on the first night of such testing (May 22), according to Lisa Tourtelot, a U.S. Marine corporal with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.It takes time and requires more personnel to operate, said John Norton, a U.S. Marine major in charge of cargo resupply with Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 2 (called the Night Owls). With a hot hookup from the hover, were able to come into the zone more expeditiously, which gives us more time to go forward with the fuel supply on the aircraft.