DARPA Wants to Turn Cargo Planes Into Flying Aircraft Carriers for Drones
By Kyle Mizokami
Dec 19, 2017
The Department of Defense wants the ability to launch and recover small drones from C-130 Hercules transports. The drones, nicknamed Gremlins after the mythological tricksters of the air, would be equipped with customized payloads and turned loose on enemy defenses, doing everything from intelligence collection to destroying radar sites and other ground targets. The ability would effectively turn the propeller-driven transports into flying aircraft carriers.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Phase Two contracts to General Atomics Aeronautical Systems—the inventors of the Predator drone —and Dynetics, Inc to develop “complete preliminary designs for full-scale technology demonstration systems, as well as develop and perform risk-reduction tests of individual system components†In other words, they want a working drone with key components already tested.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a14465118/darpa-wants-to-turn-cargo-planes-into-flying-aircraft-carriers-for-drones/
