Despite receiving numerous awards, the K-MAX was ultimately passed over by the USMC in favour of an unmanned version of the Boeing H-6U Little Bird. During the early 2010s, a pair of unmanned K-Maxes underwent an extended battlefield evaluation as a cargo UAV, for which purpose they were deployed to provide logistics support to United States Marine Corps (USMC) ground forces during the war in Afghanistan. Kaman sought to develop the K-MAX into an unmanned aerial vehicle with optional remote control. It was produced for both military and civilian operators. In addition to airlifting external loads, specialised configurations for aerial firefighting and casualty evacuation have been developed. Being a synchropter, it has greater efficiency in comparison to conventional rotor technology.

Performing its maiden flight on December 23, 1991, it was specially designed to optimally perform external cargo load operations and is capable to lifting payloads in excess of 6,000 pounds (2,700 kg), which is greater than the helicopter's empty weight and almost twice as much as the competing Bell 205 despite sharing a similar engine. The Kaman K-MAX (company designation K-1200) is a helicopter with intermeshing rotors (synchropter) designed and produced by the American manufacturer Kaman Aircraft.ĭeveloped during the 1980s and 1990s, the K-MAX builds on the work of the German aeronautical engineer Anton Flettner.

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