Mayman Aerospace is stepping up its efforts to offer the U.S. military and its allies a new approach to logistics operations in combat zones. The company recently started testing a full-scale flying testbed for its planned Razor P100 uncrewed VTOL aircraft as it makes a case for this to be deployed in so-called “contested cargo” missions as alternative to helicopters and larger drones.

With its full 100-pound payload, the P100 has a projected range of 210 nm, which could increase to around 330 nm with a reduced payload of, for example, 15 pounds. Mayman also has plans for a larger P500 model with a maximum payload of 500 pounds and an expected range of between 290 nm and 550 nm.

During September, the Mayman team started tethered flight testing in Southern California. It plans to continue this exercise through the middle of December. This work is expected to result in some minor modifications to a production-conforming example of the P100, which will then start a three-month flight test program next year as the company works toward being able to demonstrate the vehicle on military bases under research and development contracts from the U.S. Department of Defense.

The Razor’s design consists of four tilting turbine engines that move in pitch on gimbals to let the vehicle transition between vertical and horizontal flight modes with thrust vectoring. According to Mayman, military operators will be able to run the engines on whatever fuel they have available for other vehicles, which underscores the Razor’s suitability for use in remote areas.

Skyfield Provides Battlefield Brainpower

Razor’s flight control and navigation systems are supported by Mayman’s proprietary Skyfield operating system, which allows the vehicle to operate independently in GPS-denied environments. Backed by artificial intelligence, the Skyfield system can be used by military commanders as an interface between the P100 and their battlefield management system to help them make optimal use of all their assets.

According to the company’s founder and CEO, David Mayman, contested-cargo delivery is the primary role envisaged for the Razor, which is a military version of the company’s earlier Speeder civil design. “It can lift up to 500 pounds in or out of a very confined area, operating in places where a conventional takeoff and landing aircraft can’t land, and giving more range and speed than an electric drone,” he told AIN.

Among the items that could be transported are rations for troops, ammunition, and blood plasma for casualties. The payloads can be offloaded when the Razor lands or via self-steering parachutes.

Mayman also anticipates the Razor being used as a platform for launching standoff weapons such as Brimstone or Hellfire missiles. It said the vehicle could extend the range of these weapons by around 200 nm.

Similarly, Mayman sees Razor, in some circumstances, being deployed as a warhead that would be far less expensive to deploy than expensive cruise missiles like the Tomahawk and Barracuda. The company also envisages possible anti-drone applications to intercept incoming threats or, conversely, to be used as target drones for training.

With a top speed of 450 knots combined with its ability to hover, the Razor could also be deployed in intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance roles. “They could act in an orchestrated manner in swarms of 100 or so, decentralizing the battlespace for commanders,” Mayman stated.

Lately, Mayman’s discussions with prospective military users have extended beyond the Pentagon to the Five Eyes security alliance, which also includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK. “Everyone wants to get humans out of danger, and lots of capital lately has been going into developing autonomized assets like this,” he said.