Artificial Intelligence & Autonomy   Military Aircraft Procurement  

Merlin wins $8.9 million SOCOM task order to integrate autonomy into C-130J cockpit

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U.S. Special Operations Command awarded Merlin Labs an $8.9 million task order to advance its autonomous flight technology for Lockheed Martin C-130J aircraft. The next phase covers system integration, testing and safety evaluations, moving the effort toward future flight testing.

Discovered 2026-11-10T05:15:37.094803-08:00 | 2026-11-10T05:15:37.094803-08:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

  • The task order funds integration and safety evaluation of autonomy software in the C-130J cockpit, taking the program beyond technology development toward flight testing.
  • SOCOM’s $8.9 million award signals a concrete military application for autonomous flight systems on an established airlift platform.

Reported By

FlightGlobal Seeking Alpha Aviation Week insidedefense.com
Sources Tracked
4
First Seen
2026-11-10T05:15:37.094803-08:00
Latest Update
2026-11-10T12:05:04.781850-08:00
Coverage
Defense

Sources

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