Piasecki Aircraft Corporation acquired the KARGO UAV program from Kaman Air Vehicles in April, and recently launched a new upgraded variant of the medium-lift autonomous uncrewed aerial vehicle, the KARGO II.

The KARGO II is a larger capacity version of the KARGO UAVwith increased payload capacity  "from approximately 500-800 lbs. (227-363kg) to over 1,500lbs (680kg)," according to the company's August 12 announcement about theupgrade.

The original version of the UAV completed several flight testing and demonstration milestones under U.S. Army and Marine Corps contracts, prior to Piasecki's acquisition of the program in April.

Piasecki plans to manufacture the KARGO II at its Heliplexfacility in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, and expects to add new program partners and suppliers over the next year. The company expects the production version of the KARGO II to become available by 2027.

John Piasecki, CEO of Piasecki Aircraft Corporation, is theguest on this episode of the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast to discuss the future of the KARGO UAV program.