The U.S. Marine Corps has awarded a $15.5 million contract to Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, for the Medium Aerial Resupply Vehicle – Expeditionary Logistics (MARV-EL) Increment 2 program, selecting the R66 TURBINETRUCK — an autonomous cargo helicopter developed jointly by Robinson Unmanned and Sikorsky.

Robinson Unmanned, the UAS business unit of Robinson Helicopter Company, contributes the R66 airframe; Sikorsky integrates its MATRIX autonomy system to create a platform targeting a capability gap the Marine Corps has identified between small tactical drones and large strategic airlifters. MARV-EL requirements call for an uncrewed aircraft able to carry between 1,300 and 2,500 lbs of logistics payload to a combat radius of 100 nautical miles, operable via a common digital handheld device.

MATRIX, which also powers Sikorsky’s S-70UAS U-Hawk helicopter, uses an open architecture designed to be platform-agnostic. Operators enter mission objectives into a digital tablet; the system generates a flight plan and autonomously navigates the aircraft to the target location. Robinson Unmanned will deliver the first R66 TURBINETRUCK to Sikorsky for integration, test, evaluation, and capability demonstration.

The program falls under the broader Unmanned Logistics System – Air (ULS-A) initiative. Sikorsky previously participated in the Marine Corps’ Aerial Logistics Connector Phase 1 in 2025.