Kaman Invests $10M in Near Earth Autonomy
June 22, 2022
Kaman Corporation has announced an investment of $10 million in Pittsburgh-based Near Earth Autonomy for a minority interest in the outstanding equity of the company and a seat on its board of directors. The funding will allow Near Earth to accelerate its technology to establish an industry standard in autonomous solutions for the next generation of aviation. Kaman said the partnership also leverages its core competency in precision parts manufacturing as the preferred manufacturer of autonomous parts and components for Near Earth.
The investment strengthens the relationship between the two companies, as they have partnered since 2019 on the autonomy technology for Kaman’s K-MAX TITAN heavy-lift optionally piloted helicopter for the U.S. Marine Corps, and the KARGO UAV unmanned aerial system, a purpose-built autonomous medium-lift logistics vehicle. Near Earth said it plans to provide safe landing, obstacle avoidance, and other autonomous flight technologies such as sense-and-avoid, navigation in a GPS-denied environment, and precision landing.
“We are excited about this opportunity to accelerate the technology development of autonomous systems,” said Ian Walsh, chairman, president and CEO of Kaman. “After several years of working together on our K-MAX TITAN and most recently on KARGO UAV, taking our relationship with Near Earth to the next level will accelerate this important technology even faster. In an ever-changing and growing autonomy market, we are confident that our joint expertise will result in highly capable, reliable, affordable and maintainable solutions for both military and commercial applications.”
“This investment represents a major leap forward for both Kaman and Near Earth to enable the next generation of autonomous aerial logistics,” said Sanjiv Singh, CEO of Near Earth Autonomy. “Kaman has a well-deserved reputation for its robust aircraft specializing in logistics and is a fantastic partner for the development of autonomous cargo transport. We are excited at the opportunity to mature the technology for the commonplace use of autonomous aircraft for logistics across the industry.”
For more details on Near Earth Autonomy, visit its website here.
