An investigation is underway as to why a K-MAX unmanned helicopter crashed in Afghanistan on June 5. The aircraft was delivering cargo to Marines near Camp Leatherneck when it went down.
2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) spokesman Capt. Matthew Beers told the Military Times that the K-MAX was in autonomous mode at the time of the crash:
It was delivering cargo to a predetermined location without the input of a UAV pilot.
Defense contractor Lockheed Martin (which has offices in San Diego) and Kaman Aerospace Corporation have worked together to retrofit what was a human-piloted helicopter into the current K-MAX, which works as an unmanned aircraft.
