Autonomous Resupply Gliders Made Successful Deliveries On Their First Overseas Deployment
The gliders can be dropped from a variety of aircraft and could revolutionize how the military resupplies small units deployed in the field.
By Brett Tingley February 2, 2022
The War Zone
Two C-130 cargo aircraft operated by “a U.S.-allied government in the Middle East” have completed successful deliveries using autonomous Silent Arrow GD-2000 cargo gliders in their first overseas deployment. Silent Arrow claims their disposable glider drones can be deployed for military resupply and disaster relief missions at half the cost of existing cargo airdrop systems.
According to a Silent Arrow press release, the successful delivery saw two of the glider drones loaded with 1,026 lbs of undisclosed cargo each, which were then dropped out of the C-130s over “a desert environment.” The GD-2000s then navigated and flew autonomously to their landing point, at which point they executed a flare to reduce their speed and landed successfully. The deliveries were conducted as part of a $1.5M operational evaluation contract, and the company expects to begin full-rate production in 2023 with orders “into the thousands of units.” Currently, 12 of the Block I GD-2000s are deployed to the Middle East, while another 15 are in production.
The GD-2000 is a disposable “standoff delivery platform” which can carry a cargo weight of up to 1,631 pounds and deliver it within 40 nautical miles when dropped from a fixed-wing aircraft at a maximum altitude of 25,000 feet. When dropped from a helicopter, the company claims a 15-mile maximum standoff range.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/44111/autonomous-resupply-gliders-made-successful-deliveries-on-their-first-overseas-deployment
