The Black Knight Transformer aircraft driving around during a test in late-March Advanced Tactics via Youtube
Check Out This Video of a Helicopter Transforming Into a Truck
Through adverse weather or in contaminated hotspots, this 'multi-copter' can traverse land or air for a variety of purposes. By Ben Watson
The Pentagon’s Osprey can take to the skies like a helicopter and an airplane—but pilots can’t land them and then drive them like a truck across rugged terrain or fly them remotely. Enter the Black Knight Transformer, a hybrid “multi-copter” that will bring the Army one step closer to an unmanned vehicle that can move troops and equipment in poor weather, by land or air.
California-based manufacturer Advanced Tactics released this video Tuesday showing the futuristic aircraft take off and land.
With its eight foldable rotor blades, the Black Knight Transformer was built to function as a casualty evacuation vehicle in not only adverse weather, but also in chemically or radioactively contaminated environments similar to what first responders faced after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. NATO has also expressed a desire for unmanned aircraft for its casualty evacuation missions, and the Marines are interested in the Black Knight Transformer, too.
Watch its first successful test flight, conducted in late March: