The US Air Force has at its disposal a remotely controlled electric tractor called TowFLEXX, which, in particular, should be useful to specialists in the maintenance of unmanned aerial vehicles such as the MQ-9 Reaper – a prototype of such a robotic tractor is currently being tested at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico.
According to The Air and Space Forces Magazine, the prototype that is currently being tested at Holloman has its own difference compared to other TowFLEXX models, namely, it is equipped with lidar, thanks to which it avoids collisions with obstacles, including directly with the personnel themselves, which was demonstrated at the presentation.
The military was also impressed by how maneuverable the TowFLEXX robot turned out to be, which allows you to place a larger number of both drones and equipment in a cramped room.In general, as noted in the publication, if with the help of traditional means for servicing one Reaper-type drone, up to five or six people are usually needed, then with TowFLEXX this number is reduced to three.
In the context of a shortage of specialists, this is a very important indicator, because in general, it will free up more than 3000 hours on towing the MQ-9 per year, which will allow redirecting specialists for other tasks, which is critically needed in today’s conditions of a shortage of maintenance personnel in the US Air Force.
As for the cost, the price of one TowFLEXX fluctuates at the level of 50-90 thousand dollars, but it is compensated by further savings on personnel.