The US is developing a launchable strike missile.
According to Jane's, the Pentagon is developing a hybrid weapon combining UAVs and missiles – a type of weapon that can be recovered after launch.
The Pentagon has just revealed that it is combining the best ideas in aviation design to build a fleet of small robotic aircraft. These will not be conventional drones.
Instead, the idea was to launch multiple salvos of these small aircraft from the rear door of a larger plane.
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The US can launch and recover Gremlins up to 20 times. |
More precisely, the US military wants to transform the large C-130 transport aircraft into a temporary airborne aircraft carrier, deploying and recovering small unmanned aerial vehicles in a program the Pentagon calls Gremlins.
Researchers at DARPA—the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency—will issue a call for proposals later this year to turn this idea into reality.
Small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be very useful for a number of applications, especially in the military. They can perform reconnaissance missions over ground forces, carry bombs, and supply the battlefield.
If necessary, they can also be converted into a self-propelled missile, although most are not used in this way due to their highly versatile reusability.
In fact, Gremlins will be a UAV that is both like a missile—a single-use weapon—and like a drone, incorporating launch and recovery technology.
The ultimate goal of the Gremlins program was to create a new capability that would allow fighter jets, bombers, or transport aircraft to drop Gremlins at a safe distance from the enemy to carry out their missions.
After completing their mission, the Gremlins will be recovered by a C-130 and returned to base to prepare for a 24-hour rotational mission cycle. Ideally, each Gremlin will have a lifespan of 20 deployments and will act as an intermediary between manned aircraft and missiles.
DARPA hopes that the Gremlins program will provide the technological foundation that will allow future fighter jets to deploy inexpensive unmanned platforms that can be dropped and subsequently recovered from other aircraft.
Gremlins are not intended to replace the role of current multirole fighter aircraft, but they offer a simpler, lower-cost technological solution that can be deployed and recovered multiple times. Notably, they can counter even enemy stealth fighters.
