Prize catch: Gremlins testing puts air-recoverable UAVs within reach

摘要

In late 2020, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) revealed that an industry team led by Dynetics (a subsidiary of Leidos) had come just short of recovering small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to a C-130 Hercules aircraft while in flight. During a third series of flight testing in airspace above the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, the three X-61A Gremlins Air Vehicles (GAVs) made a series of attempts to engage with a docking mechanism extending from the rear ramp of the C-130. The Gremlins came within inches of connection on each attempt, according to Scott Wierz-banowski, programme manager for Gremlins in DARPA's Tactical Technology Office, but,ultimately, "it just wasn't close enough to engage the recovery system". Wierzbanowski had previously likened the concept to "aircraft carriers in the sky", a comparison that goes some way to explaining the challenges inherent to the midair recovery of an unmanned vehicle.