New footage has emerged of a groundbreaking military development that could open a new
age of drone warfare for the United States and its allies.
In the short video produced and published by the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency or DARPA, a massive C-130 aircraft can be seen flying over a desert landscape.
The cargo plane then deploys a recovery latch device
similar to those used by tanker planes to refuel other aircraft.
Soon after, we see a military class drone approaching the end of the latch while it
performs various adjustments and maneuvers to align itself properly to the latch device.
The stakes couldn’t have been higher; never has a military drone been recovered mid-flight,
and an earlier test the same day resulted in an unfortunate crash.
The implications of a successful mid-air recovery system for military drones are tremendous,
and if everything works according to plan, the US military could soon deploy swarms of
military drones simultaneously, exponentially increasing their effectiveness and firepower.
Recovering Drones
As with any other small and agile aircraft,
drones present a substantial drawback that must be considered before deployment.
Their fuel reserves and operating range are minimal,
and the lighter and more responsive an aircraft is,
the less fuel it is able to carry, meaning the sorties it can perform will be shorter.
That is precisely why aircraft carriers became a thing, as the limber fighters that were needed
in a specific battlefront could only cover a limited distance. If the airbase itself could
reach the target, the fighter’s range could be better utilized to achieve its objective.
In other words, deploying closer to the target makes the aircraft more effective,
and this same idea applies when recovering a plane.
If the aircraft doesn’t have to fly all the way back to the base where it deployed from
and land on a runway, its limited fuel reserves can be better utilized to accomplish its mission.
As far back as the 1930s, the US Navy conducted experiments with giant airships that could deploy
and recover biplanes from stores inside the craft. That recovery element is essential,
not only because it allows the plane’s fuel to be more effective but also because it makes it
much easier for the crew to withdraw from a mission for piloted aircraft.
Later, during the Cold War, the Air Force developed the trapeze-launched Goblin.
This ultra-small jet fighter could ride inside the bomb bay
of a nuclear-armed bomber to protect it from other fighter jets if necessary.
Both ventures didn’t amount to much after each encountered a wide array of obstacles.
Still, they did showcase the importance that military command has given to the
idea of air-to-air aircraft deployment and recovery throughout the decades.
The recovery program being developed for the Gremlin drones is not an exact continuance of
prior aircraft-launched aircraft, though it shares some essential principles.
Being able to start and recover from a rack inside the cargo plane
means the drone doesn’t need to operate from a runway. With its fold-under wing and compact form,
up to four Gremlins can be inside the hull of a C-130.
As a result, a small swarm of 4 drones can be sent to a specific area when operational,
while the cargo aircraft stays far away enough to avoid anti-aircraft fire
but close enough to swiftly recover the drones once they have accomplished their mission.
However, this scenario is still hypothetical; currently, Gremlin drones are only equipped
for scouting and electronic warfare. Scouting is the most basic mission a Gremlin performs,
but it can be fitted with jammers that disrupt sensors and radar arrays. Still,
they could potentially be armed with bombs and other conventional weapons in future iterations.
A Long Way to Go
Assuming the early testing of the DARPA program is successful, there still is
much work that needs to be done before the technology embodies a useful military tool.
For now, only one effective connection has been achieved amid many unsuccessful attempts,
and the technology will have to be further polished to increase
the success rate attained by the unmanned vehicle.
Future possible achievements include the deployment and recovery of multiple drones,
which would be an ideal scenario as it would finally achieve the
long-promised tool of drone warfare: a working swarm.
The simultaneous deployment of multiple drones is one of the few ways to disrupt
the stability between attacking aircraft and anti-air protections.
For years now, the calculation has concluded that a surface-to-air missile is cheaper
than the human-crewed plane it’s destroying by a long stretch. That disparity has led to
the advancement of stealth planes, which are hard to hit but often more expensive.
Drones skew the equation the other way by deploying multiple cheap targets that
overwhelm defense systems, basically rendering them useless in the world of future warfare.
Suppose two fighter-bombers are required for a mission that means putting at risk 2
to 4 valuable human pilots plus the cost of the airframes. Sending eight drones
would jeopardize more airframes, but the drones are more expendable than a fighter.
On the other hand, if rockets take out part of the swarm,
the remaining drones could still complete the mission, and thanks to the new technology,
return to be recovered in mid-air so that they can continue to serve and save lives.
Bright Future
The future looks promising, as the testing showcased in the DARPA footage was a success.
Everyone involved held their breath as the drone adjusted its position
and maneuvered to achieve alignment with the latch device.
Then, as if it was the most straightforward feat in the world, the drone made a connection,
possibly changing the future of warfare.
The date and location of the tests are classified; however, according to the DARPA press release
issued on November 5, 2021, two X-61As, also known as Gremlin Air Vehicles, were used in the
tests and they: (QUOTE) “Successfully validated all autonomous formation flying positions and
safety features before one GAV ultimately demonstrated airborne recovery to a C-130.”
The connection looks straightforward in the footage, and it happens in just a few seconds,
making the achievement sign almost go unnoticed.
Nevertheless, DARPA had been trying to accomplish the highly complex connection for several years.
During similar testing in 2020, DARPA had failed to achieve connection and recovery,
and they had to go back to the drawing board and try again.
That was a frustrating moment for everyone working on the project. The program manager at the moment,
Scott Wierzbanowski, said: (QUOTE) “We came within inches of connection on each attempt.”
But it would take another year to make the remarkable recovery a reality.
Aerial release and recovery of autonomous aircraft, including from other drones,
is an area of rapidly growing significance for the US military. General Atomics’ Sparrowhawk
is a similar drone project that is also designed to be recovered in mid-air.
These projects, along with many other similar ventures,
prove that US military development is searching to carry this technology forward,
and it also defines a clear route for the future of warfare in the following decades.
It appears as though the world is rapidly moving towards the implementation of rapid,
autonomous aerial units capable of swarming and overwhelming enemy positions
while keeping soldiers as safe as possible.
With the recent successful recovery experiment, the Gremlin initiative
has demonstrated the general viability of this crucial idea,
which opens up new and exciting possibilities for the US military.
Thank you for watching our video! What do you think might be other
valuable applications for the drone mid-air recovery system?
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