The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plans to conduct demonstration flights next year for full-scale technology capable of the airborne launch and recovery of multiple unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
Entering its third and final phase, DARPA’s “Gremlins” program would allow for multiple low-cost UAS to be launched from military aircraft while out of range from enemy defenses. Upon completion of the mission, the gremlins would be collected by a C-130 transport airplane for reuse up to 20 times.
“Early flight tests have given us confidence we can meet our objective to recover four gremlins in 30 minutes,” Scott Wierzbanowski, program manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, said.
Gremlin scale separation and captive flight tests were recently demonstrated at the Yuma Proving Ground. Extensive modeling and simulation have also been conducted to mitigate risks.
Wierzbanowski said the technology could be transferred from C-130s to other transport aircraft in the future. DARPA is also considering demonstrating different sensor packages with potential integration partners before program completion in 2019.
“We are exploring opportunities with several transition partners and are not committed to a single organization Interest is strong with both the roll-on/roll-off capability of the Gremlins system — as it does not require any permanent aircraft modification — and a wing-mounted system to provide greater flexibility to a wider range of aircraft,” Wierzbanowski said.