Jet Powered Autonomous Swarm Being Tested
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DARPA’s X-61A Gremlin drone has recently completed its first test flight. The reusable, air-launched, and air-recovered drone has managed to fly for an hour and 41 minutes after being launched from the wing of an airborne C-130. Unfortunately, the jet powered drone was destroyed due to a malfunction with its parachute recovery system. However, Thedrive.com reports that four additional drones were also built so the malfunction likely wouldn’t impact the other scheduled test flights.
Developed by Dynetics, the Gremlins are a reusable, unmanned, jet-powered platform designed to enable bringing advanced payloads and technologies into the operative field. Each Gremlin is capable of communicating and flying alongside other Gremlins to form a swarm. The drones are capable of autonomously operating together, securely communicating, operating sensors, and navigating in GPS denied environments.
The X-61As have been designed to be launched midair from fighter jets, bombers, and even cargo aircraft. They have also been designed to recover, or land, onboard flying aircraft. This decreases the force’s dependence on airbase proximity, allowing the Gremlins to operate anywhere, regardless of how far the nearest air force base is from the mission.
The Gremlins are capable of landing onboard aircraft due to an innovative aircraft recovery system. The drone will fly behind and underneath the recovery aircraft, the aircraft will then release a cable that the Gremlin will attach to, similar to how aircraft refuel other aircraft midair. Once the cable is attached to the drone, it will pull the drone towards the aircraft, there the drone can be refueled, rearmed, and then resent back to the area of operation.
Systems like the Gremlins could potentially greatly benefit both the warfighter and the service as a whole. Gremlins save the military a lot of money per mission while granting the warfighter with access to whole new arrays of advanced airborne sensors in the battlefield.
Once the drones have proven their worth in the DARPA program, the X-61A Gremlins would be able to supply the military with swarms of air-launched, air-recovered, autonomous drones.
Watch here the Gremlin X-61A’s maiden flight:
