Honeywell And Merlin Partner To Enable Autonomy On Wide Variety Of Aircraft

PHOENIX Oct. 17, 2024 – Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) and Merlin, the leading developer of safe, autonomous flight technology for fixed-wing aircraft, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to bring autonomy to a wide variety of aircraft, including military fleets.

With this partnership, Merlin Pilot, a non-human pilot system, will integrate with Honeywell Anthem’s advanced avionics suite to reduce pilot workloads and enhance operational efficiency for special missions. Honeywell Anthem provides an intuitive user interface and advanced flight management that complements the Merlin Pilot’s advanced automation system, providing a multitude of robust and safe automated flight tasks for various aircraft.

Honeywell and Merlin’s collaboration will initially target fixed-wing military aircraft with the opportunity to expand to other commercial and military aircraft platforms. The partnership will focus on retrofitting existing military aircraft with Merlin’s advanced automation system to enable reduced crew operations, and eventually uncrewed flight. Unlike fully autonomous systems for new aircraft development, this solution enhances current aircraft operations by minimizing the need for multiple pilots, all while maintaining stringent safety standards.

“This collaboration will benefit the military significantly, as this autonomy solution helps alleviate the pilot shortage by reducing the number of pilots required for certain aircraft operations,” said Bob Buddecke, president, Electronic Solutions, Honeywell Aerospace Technologies. “By enabling single-pilot operations and automating key tasks, this partnership provides a scalable and safe solution to ease pilot workload and optimize fleet operations for both the military and commercial aviation industry.”

“The safety and scalability of the aviation industry is highly dependent on the progressive advancement of autonomous capabilities. This partnership is an important step for Merlin and Honeywell to bring this technology to commercial and military aircraft, starting with single pilot operations,” said Matt George, CEO and founder, Merlin. “Honeywell is a respected company in aerospace, and paired with Merlin, together we will be able to significantly advance pilot efficiency and create a safer aviation ecosystem.”

This MOU supports Honeywell’s alignment of its portfolio to the compelling megatrends of automation and the future of aviation. It also enables Merlin to continue enhancing pilot efficiency and flight safety for both commercial and military aviation, building on the $105 million production contract it recently won from United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and the partnership it recently with Air Mobility Command (AMC) and Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) to integrate the Merlin Pilot on the C-130J and KC-135 aircraft, respectively.

About Honeywell

Products and services from Honeywell Aerospace Technologies are found on virtually every commercial, defense and space aircraft, and in many terrestrial systems. The Aerospace Technologies business unit builds aircraft engines, cockpit and cabin electronics, wireless connectivity systems, mechanical components, power systems, and more. Its hardware and software solutions create more fuel-efficient aircraft, more direct and on-time flights and safer skies and airports. For more information, visit www.honeywell.com/us/en or follow us at @Honeywell_Aero.

Honeywell is an integrated operating company serving a broad range of industries and geographies around the world. Our business is aligned with three powerful megatrends – automation, the future of aviation and energy transition – underpinned by our Honeywell Accelerator operating system and Honeywell Forge IoT platform. As a trusted partner, we help organizations solve the world's toughest, most complex challenges, providing actionable solutions and innovations through our Aerospace Technologies, Industrial Automation, Building Automation and Energy and Sustainability Solutions business segments that help make the world smarter and safer as well as more secure and sustainable. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom.

About Merlin

Merlin is a venture backed aerospace startup building a non-human pilot to enable both reduced crew and uncrewed flight. Backed by some of the world’s leading investors, Merlin is scaling alongside our customers to begin leveraging autonomy today to solve some of aviation’s biggest challenges. To learn more, visit www.merlinlabs.com or follow us on X @merlinaero.