Merlin and Israel Aerospace Industries Sign a Deal to Put Autonomy in the Cockpit of Part Twenty-Five Freighters

Merlin, an autonomy company, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to jointly develop, integrate, and certify autonomous flight systems for large cargo aircraft. The agreement specifically targets Part 25 freighters - the FAA certification category for large transport airplanes, the heavy iron that hauls freight across oceans. This is an early-stage partnership, not a finished product, but it signals a serious push to move automation onto the freight deck.

What Merlin and IAI Actually Agreed To

A memorandum of understanding is not a contract to build something tomorrow. It’s an agreement to work together - two companies pooling what they know to see whether they can get a system certified.

The division of labor is clear. Merlin brings the autonomy software and flight systems. IAI brings decades of experience building and modifying large aircraft, including a well-established business converting passenger jets into freighters. Put those together and the target becomes obvious: autonomous systems on big cargo airplanes.

Part 25 is the certification category for large transport aircraft - not a Cessna 172, not a light twin, but the machines that move boxes at night while most of us are asleep.

Why Certification Is the Real Story

The headline is the partnership. The part that matters most is one word: certification.

Anybody can write software that flies an airplane. Getting a regulator to sign off on it - to put it on an aircraft carrying real cargo through real airspace - is the hard part. That’s the mountain.

When an MOU specifically calls out certification work, it tells you these companies intend to clear the regulatory bar, not just build a demo for a trade show. They’re building a certification case they can walk into a regulator’s office and defend.

Why Cargo Instead of Passengers

Almost every autonomy program in the industry is pointing at freight before it points at people, and the logic is consistent.

Freight doesn’t complain and doesn’t need a flight attendant. Cargo economics are brutal: tight margins, night operations, smaller airports, and a pilot supply problem that isn’t improving. If you’re going to introduce reduced-crew or single-pilot operations on a large aircraft - and eventually higher levels of autonomy - you start where the risk to human life is lowest and the business case is strongest.

What “Autonomy” Means Here - and What It Doesn’t

The word “autonomy” gets thrown around loosely, so it’s worth being precise. This is interpretation, flagged as such: we are not talking about pilotless jumbo jets landing at your local field next year.

The near-term goal is reducing pilot workload and, eventually, reducing the number of crew required on the flight deck. Merlin has been public about a staged path - a system that first works alongside pilots, proves itself, gathers data, and builds the safety case.

The stages run roughly in order: first a very capable assistant, then reduced crew, and only much later a fully uncrewed large freighter. That final step lives or dies on certification.

The Regulatory Backdrop

This isn’t happening in a vacuum. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and its counterparts overseas have been building the regulatory scaffolding for exactly this kind of operation, with ongoing international work on reduced-crew concepts.

The agencies know the pressure is coming. Partnering a focused autonomy company with a heavyweight manufacturer is how you assemble a credible certification case rather than just a product.

Why This Matters for Pilots - Even Weekend Flyers

If you fly light aircraft for fun, a cargo autonomy deal can feel irrelevant. Here are three reasons it isn’t.

First, the technology trickles down. Autopilots, envelope protection, and terrain awareness all started at the top of the market and flowed into four-seat singles. What gets certified on a Part 25 freighter today becomes the foundation for what’s affordable in a Part 23 light airplane later.

Second, your shared airspace is getting more automated. If you fly near a busy cargo hub, you may increasingly share the pattern and approach with highly automated aircraft. Knowing that they’re predictable, rule-following, and data-driven will matter to how you fly around them.

Third, this is where the careers are moving. The flight deck of 20 years from now is being designed in memorandums like this one. The skill set is shifting toward systems management and automation oversight. The pilots who thrive will be the ones who understand the automation deeply - not those who fear or ignore it.

What You Should Do About It Today

Nothing urgent. As of July 28, 2026, there’s no rule change, no airworthiness directive, and no deadline attached to this news. It’s an early-stage memorandum.

But file it away and watch this space. When the next announcement from this partnership arrives - and it will - you’ll be able to read what stage they’ve reached and what it means.

Key Takeaways

Merlin and Israel Aerospace Industries signed an MOU to jointly develop, integrate, and certify autonomous systems for Part 25 large cargo aircraft.
Certification is the core challenge - the MOU’s explicit focus on it signals a serious regulatory effort, not a demo.
Cargo comes before passengers because the risk to human life is lowest and the economic case is strongest.
Near-term autonomy means reduced pilot workload and eventually reduced crew, not pilotless jumbo jets in the immediate future.
The technology will trickle down to light aircraft, reshape shared airspace, and redefine the pilot skill set toward automation oversight.