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Merlin Labs completes Preliminary Design Review for C-130J autonomy program

On March 5, Merlin Labs announced completion of the Preliminary Design Review for an autonomous flight system and autonomy software package developed for the Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules, advancing a programme tied to U.S. Special Operations Command and moving toward integration and testing.

Discovered 2026-03-05T16:32:47.324228-08:00 | 2026-03-05T16:32:47.324228-08:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

Merlin completed a formal Preliminary Design Review on March 5 for an autonomy software/flight system for the Lockheed Martin C-130J, a program milestone that precedes detailed design, integration and flight testing.
The work feeds into a broader industry push toward mission-autonomy and uncrewed adaptations of tactical platforms, alongside recent semi‑autonomous fighter tests and other mission‑autonomy flights (see source:521208f6-d531-409d-a260-12b0118b2ee6 and source:fd6933ee-f450-4526-b60a-2b3acdd01f21).
Given the C-130J’s global operator base and ongoing modernization programmes, successful autonomy integration could affect future procurement, upgrade and sustainment decisions for military transport fleets (see source:c706b6d8-2fea-493a-9a6c-92d56050a8cb).

Reported By

aviationnews.eu flight.com.gr Air Data News aeromorning.com Aviation Week