Aurora Flight Sciences
HALE/MALE autonomy house · Orion prime
Contractor
Founded 1989. Chiron optionally piloted aircraft 1996. Global Hawk structures since 1995. Centaur optionally piloted DA42 from 2010. AACUS autonomous helicopter demo February 2014. ALIAS is later drop-in copilot work.
Aurora’s remotely/optionally piloted lineage is older than MAGIC: 1991 Perseus; 1996 Chiron with onboard computers controlling autopilot, navigation and propulsion plus a ground data link; 1999 Raytheon DARPA UCAV subscale in 125 days. Centaur (modified DA42) began flight test in 2010. AACUS autonomous helicopter demonstration occurred in February 2014 — the month before MH370. ALIAS, a later DARPA drop-in robotic copilot, includes a 737 simulator demonstration, not a live remotely flown 737. Autonomy competence is confirmed. Access to 9M-MRO is not.
Sources
Related
Aurora Orion RPA
Twin-diesel MALE UAS · China Lake first flight 24 Aug 2013
MAGIC
Medium Altitude Global ISR and Communications
Boeing US7142971B2 — uninterruptible automatic control
Remote engagement · disconnected onboard controls
Orion 123-hour engine bench test
January 2012 · Manassas, Virginia