Release the Gremlins: Pentagon plans flying aircraft carriers for drone swarms
‘You can send volleys of swarms over and over again and really just overwhelm an adversary with that complexity’
Flying aircraft carriers that launch and recover fleets of small, inexpensive drones could soon be part of the US military arsenal, as the Pentagon works with private technology partners to engineer that vision into reality.
In late April the Pentagon’s advanced research-and-development arm, known as DARPA, awarded a 21-month, US$38.6 million contract to Dynetics, a Huntsville, Alabama-based company, to work on the software and technology. San Diego-based Kratos, a venture-funded tech company that specialises in cheap drones used for target practice, joined as a subcontractor and will build a new class of drones whose wings can be folded up for easier storage in the belly of a plane.
For the US military, gaining the ability to have multiple drones quickly and reliably take off from a plane and return to it would be a big step forward, aviation experts say. The goal is to build the technology and know-how needed to apply hordes of small drones on the battlefield.
“You can send volleys of swarms over and over again and really just overwhelm an adversary with that complexity,” said Tim Keeter, a deputy programme manager and chief engineer at Dynetics. The lower cost could also allow the company’s military customers to take greater risks and be more aggressive on the battlefield, Keeter said.
Watch: Pentagon releases swarm of micro drones
Commercial tech companies have already shown that they can coordinate flocks of drones to carry out tremendously complex aerial acrobatics; an aerial display organised by Silicon Valley chip manufacturer Intel was a highlight of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Seoul.