Unmanned K-MAX

A cargo helicopter modified by Lockheed Martin to fly itself to preset waypoints, mostly at night, carrying slung loads; ground crews hooked up the cargo and an operator could take remote control.

Price: —military programme; not sold commercially as uncrewed
Autonomy: SupervisedHow it runs
Driverless: In serviceSince 2011-12
Fleet: 2010Reported; details below
Speed: 185.0 km/hFaster than 33%
Payload: 2722 kgCarries more than 100%

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Why it matters

First uncrewed helicopter to fly routine cargo resupply in a war zone, starting with a delivery to a US Marine outpost in Afghanistan in December 2011.

Real-world use

Deployed with the US Marine Corps in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2014; delivered more than 4.5 million lb of cargo before returning to the United States (Lockheed Martin, July 2014).

Timeline

First shown: 2011-12
Released: 2011-12

First autonomous combat resupply delivery, Afghanistan

Maker

Kaman Aerospace and Lockheed MartinCompany

How it drives

Fleet and city figures move fast; each carries its date and who reported it.

Driverless status: Driverless in service
Where it runs: Helmand, Afghanistan (US Marine Corps)
Driverless since: 2011-12
Fleet: Two K-MAX air vehicles and three remote-control ground stations included in the US Navy contract for the Marine Corps (Lockheed Martin, December 2010).
Rides, miles or loads: Thousands of delivery missions and more than 4.5 million lb of cargo during the Afghanistan deployment (Lockheed Martin, July 2014).

How it stacks up

Against other cargo aircraft that publish the figure. Pick a measure.

Unmanned K-MAX is faster than 33% of the 3 other cargo aircraft that publish a speed. Bars show the 3 closest in date.

Speed 185.0 km/h 148.0 km/h212.0 km/h #3 of 4 · faster than 33%

Not published by the maker: height, weight, joints, battery, price.

Public attention

A historic robot: no longer sold or in use, so it is not ranked against current vehicles.

No Wikipedia article of its own yet
No recent press stories listed yet

Measures how much people read and write about a robot, not how good it is. Measured 2026-10-14; same method for every robot. How it is measured

What’s inside

No component details published yet.

Movement: Other movement
How it runs: Supervised. Works by itself while a person watches and steps in.

From the maker

Unmanned K-MAX is the only vehicle from Kaman Aerospace and Lockheed Martin in the atlas.

Made, sold and where

No production or sales figures published yet.

Price: Not publishedmilitary programme; not sold commercially as uncrewed
How to get one: No official buying page found

Sources

Figures come from press coverage. Every link below backs something on this page.

Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin’s Unmanned K-MAX Cargo Helicopter Team Returns From Deployment With U.S. Marine Corps In Afghanistan IEEE Spectrum K-MAX robocopter starts making autonomous Afghanistan deliveries

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