Merlin to Bring Military Autonomy Platform to Commercial Air Cargo

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Merlin to Bring Military Autonomy Platform to Commercial Air Cargo

Early integrations will focus on commercial cargo aircraft before expanding to other large models.

Jack Daleo

Thursday, May 14, 2026 at 01:30 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Merlin Pilot for Commercial Cargo will introduce the company’s autonomy system, which is undergoing a military airworthiness campaign, to the civil sector. [Credit: Merlin Labs]

Key Takeaways:

Merlin Labs is extending its AI-powered "Merlin Pilot" autonomy system, originally developed for military aircraft, to the commercial cargo sector through a new product suite called "Condor."

The "Merlin Pilot" system provides "takeoff to touchdown" autonomous assistance, designed to reduce pilot workload and enable reduced-crew operations on large multi-crew aircraft such as the C-130J, Boeing 737, and Airbus A320.

This commercial expansion targets the growing air cargo market to address pilot shortages, with Merlin pursuing both military airworthiness and FAA Part 25 certification for integration into existing and converted freighter fleets.

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In the not-too-distant future, cargo could be shipped by airplanes that autonomously assist their pilots.

Boston-based Merlin Labs, which is pursuing military airworthiness for its Merlin Pilot autonomy system on U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) C-130J Hercules transporters, said Thursday it will integrate the same system on commercial cargo aircraft.

The company’s Merlin Pilot for Commercial Cargo offering will be part of Condor—a new suite of products designed for reduced-crew operations on large, multi-crew civil and military aircraft.

Condor customers would be able to equip Pilot on military airframes such as the C-130J, as well as Part 25 aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. All three are listed as “current focus and future fleet candidates” on the Condor web page.

“Condor represents our approach to scaling autonomy across large, multi-crew aircraft, with the Merlin Pilot at its core,” said Matt George, CEO of Merlin, in a statement. “It’s being built to certify, advancing on real military aircraft with real regulators, and is designed to integrate into the aircraft operators already own.”

How It Works

Merlin describes pilot as a “takeoff to touchdown” autonomy system powered by artificial intelligence (AI). It is billed as aircraft agnostic, meaning the same software and hardware could be installed across a range of airframes, both existing and new.

Sensors and cameras installed on the airframe feed Merlin’s AI-powered autonomy stack, which sends the data to flight computers to tell the aircraft where it is and where it’s going. That allows Pilot to manage an aircraft’s systems, monitor surroundings for hazards, and communicate with air traffic control (ATC) using voice and natural language processing algorithms. The idea is to minimize pilot workload and allow crews to focus on flying.

The AI copilot even monitors human pilots’ attention and fatigue to determine if it needs to provide assistance. Humans can take back control if needed.

Merlin in April said it completed the first fully automated takeoffs with Pilot-equipped, fixed-wing aircraft. It said Thursday that the system has made hundreds of flights across multiple airframes.

The company is working toward demonstration flights with a modified Hercules under a five-year, $105 million agreement with USSOCOM to develop reduced aircrew capabilities for Special Operations Forces (SOF) aircraft. The agreement leaves the door open for Merlin to automate SOF’s broader fixed-wing fleet.

The firm in March achieved preliminary design review for Pilot on the C-130J, and chief technology officer Timothy Burns predicted airworthiness would come in a “couple of months.”

Merlin’s new family of products, though, will extend Pilot’s usefulness beyond military airframes.

Introducing Condor

As Merlin pursues military certification for the system, it is also seeking FAA Part 25 authorization that would allow customers to fly people or cargo with Pilot-equipped aircraft. The announcement of Merlin for Commercial Cargo is a step toward getting the system in those customers’ hands.

The company is first targeting cargo due to expected demand. It cited Boeing’s 2024 World Air Cargo Forecast, which estimated the global cargo fleet is expected to grow from about 2,300 freighters in 2023 to 3,900 by 2043. Boeing forecasts more than 2,800 freighter deliveries in that time frame. About two-thirds would be passenger-to-freighter conversions that Merlin believes are ripe for autonomy, since there would be no need to retrofit.

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