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Navy/USMC

Near Earth’s Unmanned Bell 505 Offering Picked For Marines’ Resupply Drone Development Effort

By Matthew Beinart

Thursday, April 30th, 2026

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Near Earth’s Unmanned Bell 505 Offering Picked For Marines’ Resupply Drone Development Effort

Uncrewed Bell 505 helicopter selected as part of Near Earth Autonomy's offering for the Marine Corps' MARV-EL Inc. 2 development effort. Photo: Bell.

Near Earth Autonomy has announced its selection for the second increment of the Marine Corps’ Medium Aerial Resupply Vehicle–Expeditionary Logistics (MARV-EL) development program, with plans to work on an unmanned version of the Bell [TXT] 505 helicopter. “The program is to develop an uncrewed aerial logistics aircraft for where the risk and need are highest,” Lyle Chamberlain, Near Earth’s chief technology officer, said in a statement. "We are combining our Captain autonomy architecture with a proven Bell 505 platform to…

Congress

With $1.5 Trillion Request, Army, Air Force, Navy’s Unfunded Lists Focus Solely On MILCON Projects

With the Trump administration’s push to massively increase defense spending to $1.5 trillion in fiscal year 2027, the Army, Air Force and Navy have eschewed submitting large unfunded priorities lists […]

Unmanned Systems

Bipartisan House Bill Would Give National Guard To Counter-Drone Authorities

Seeking to close gaps that may arise between state and local law enforcers in different jurisdictions, a bipartisan contingent of House members this week introduced a bill that would allow […]

Congress

Munitions Fired Represent Most of $25 Billion Spent By Pentagon on Iran War So Far

Munitions fired in the two-month old “Operation Epic Fury” against Iran represent most of the $25 billion cost the Pentagon has incurred thus far in the conflict, the acting Defense […]

Congress

Slotkin: Pentagon Should Use Anthropic’s Mythos To Spot Cyber Security Gaps

The Pentagon should be using Anthropic‘s recently announced Mythos artificial intelligence model to spot gaps in cyber security, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said on Tuesda. “I think the thing that […]