Overview
- Beta said it has integrated Near Earth Autonomy’s perception and guidance suite into its fly-by-wire system, with autonomous flight testing planned for the first half of 2026.
- CEO Kyle Clark told Reuters development and a full demonstration should take up to a year, with potential deployment in 18 to 36 months subject to defense procurement timelines.
- The effort is focused on military and commercial cargo operations, building on relationships with carriers such as UPS and Bristow.
- Beta reports more than 1,000 uncrewed flight hours on subscale test vehicles and says removing a pilot would nearly double payload capacity beyond the current 1,240-pound cargo rating.
- The autonomy partnership follows fresh capital from a $1 billion NYSE IPO and complements work with GE Aerospace on hybrid-electric propulsion, while Near Earth cites more than 10,000 flights across over 140 airframes using its systems.