A tiny, unmanned plane could land almost anywhere for military intel
The DARPA project could be a boon for U.S. intelligence-gathering efforts
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By Pranshu Verma
September 14, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
A rendering of an as-yet-undesigned plane that defense officials say should weigh no more than 250 to 330 pounds, fly roughly 16 hours at a time and vertically take off and land from anywhere in the world that has roughly 320 square feet of clear space. (DARPA)
The military is looking to create a new unmanned plane that could take off and land almost anywhere in the world — a potentially major technological leap forward in government intelligence gathering.
The secretive Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency — or DARPA — announced last week that it is looking to build a tiny aircraft which could be used for reconnaissance missions and be remote-controlled, fly longer and vertically take off and land from tricky spaces, such as ship decks or on remote battlefields without airports.
The plane, which has yet to be designed, could let soldiers gather high-quality intelligence in a better way than the current crop of small intelligence aircraft allow, DARPA officials said. Service members, particularly in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, would be able to fly these unmanned planes longer and further without much crew or setup, and do so even on the most far-flung battlefields, all while gathering high-quality images.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/09/14/darpa-ancillary-vertical-takeoff-plane/
