Merlin launches autonomy platform for commercial cargo aircraft

Merlin says it has launched a new autonomy platform aimed at commercial cargo aircraft as the air freight sector looks to address pilot shortages and growing demand.

The Boston-based aerospace and defence technology company announced Merlin Pilot for Commercial Cargo, part of its new Condor product family designed for large, multi-crew aircraft. The system is intended to integrate with existing and newly converted cargo aircraft and assist pilots with tasks including systems management, environmental monitoring and communications.

Merlin said the platform is being developed for both civil and military aircraft, including Part 25 aircraft and military transports such as the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules.

According to the company, the global cargo aircraft fleet is expected to grow from about 2,340 aircraft today to nearly 3,900 over the next 20 years, citing forecasts from Boeing.

Merlin said its autonomy system has already completed hundreds of flights across multiple aircraft platforms and is currently undergoing testing with the United States Special Operations Command on the C-130J aircraft. The company said the program reached a milestone in March 2026 with the successful completion of a Preliminary Design Review.

Merlin also said it is collaborating with World Star Aviation, a freighter lessor, and is pursuing additional partnerships in the commercial cargo conversion market.

“The pilot shortage is structurally impacting operators and comes at a time when the conversion market is at record volume. The window to integrate autonomy, both during the Passenger-to-Freighter (P2F) conversion and in aircraft being currently built, is open, making this a particularly pivotal moment,” said Matt George, CEO and founder of Merlin.

“Condor represents our approach to scaling autonomy across large, multi-crew aircraft, with the Merlin Pilot at its core. It’s being built to certify, advancing on real military aircraft with real regulators, and is designed to integrate into the aircraft operators already own. That’s what we’re building for commercial cargo.”