An Unmanned Airborne Launch Pad

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DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is developing a project that is aimed at completely overhauling US military air power. The great innovation this program – referred to as the System of Systems Integration Technology and Experimentation (SoSITE) – has to offer, is the use of an unmanned airborne launch pad.

In one scenario the planner offer an advanced fighter plane would be accompanied by an unmanned, C-130-sized “mission truck”, from which UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) as well as missiles would be launched, to increase the fighter jet’s punch. The larger plane would stay outside the attack zone, and its systems would, according to Engadget, be controlled remotely by the jet pilot.

According to the program the cargo plane would first release special UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) that jam the radar station targets, to avoid being shot down. The UAVs would relay intelligence about the trargets back to the fighter plane’s pilot. With this information the pilot would be able to come up with a targeting solution and fire a bevy of small, cheap cruise missiles from the mission truck.

The enemy would be forced to engage in expensive long-range surface-to-air missiles warfare, and may even shoot a few of the targeting missiles down. However, some of the cruise missiles would break through the shield and eventually destroy the target.

SoSITE program aims to build an open systems that helps drones, missiles, “mission truck” planes and fighter jets work together. The system would require minimal input from the pilot, thanks to computers onboard the fighter and mission truck.

DARPA’s plan is to supplement existing system capabilities with open-systems architectures, which would yield “interchangeable modules and platforms that can be quickly upgraded and swapped out as needed.” DARPA compared the idea to smartphone technology and apps. According to the project leader, “you don’t need to buy a new smartphone every time an app comes out…

If it works, the military would be able to upgrade current manned and unmanned tech faster and for less money. At the same time, it would force the enemy to spend a lot more money to counter with traditional systems.