DARPA recovers Gremlin drone inflight

[ORAC]

Why am I so reminded of the Goblin - is the name pure coincidence?

https://www.defensenews.com/unmanned/2021/11/05/darpa-nabs-gremlin-drone-in-midair-for-first-time/

DARPA nabs Gremlin drone in midair for first timeWASHINGTON — For the first time, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency recovered an unmanned X-61 Gremlin air vehicle to a C-130 in flight, marking a milestone in the U.S. military’s effort to deploy swarms of drones from a mothership.

The first successful midair Gremlin recovery took place Oct. 29 at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, DARPA said in a Friday release. The agency noted that this flight test — the fourth deployment of the Gremlins — involved two of the small drones, which successfully carried out all formation flying positions and safety features.

While one Gremlin was recovered, the second was destroyed during the flight tests, DARPA said. The Gremlins team then refurbished the recovered drone and flew it again within 24 working hours, the release said……

https://youtu.be/H4T6Vr4a1hY

https://youtu.be/WE4Uxo6WLio

[Asturias56]

well - yes - very good - but that's a single drone - handling "swarms" would take forever.

What you'd really want is a big rack inside the aircraft , open the back door and the swarm all buzzes in and parks themselves in the right slot in ten minutes

Asturias Aerospace is willing to take on a $1 Bn contract to develop the concept..........

[gums]

Salute!

I don't see why they couldn't use a modified receptacle air refueling setup. Just have the drone join up (with or without "help") and the "boom op" plugs in and they drag the thing in.

I unnerstan the USN has already conducted drone/UAS/UAV refueling with their probe and drogue systems, and we see the space folks hook up on the ISS every few weeks or so.

Gums opines....

P.S. Back when .... USAF tried snatching a F-84 on a big buff so it could carry its own "escort" fighter wit it! GASP. Of course, the original Goblin project was done in that vein.

[_SpinFlight_]

What's old is new again......

[Blossy]

In the event of a failed hook-up the XF-85 would have had a rather brisk landing speed on terra firma!

[ORAC]

In the event of a failed hook-up the XF-85 would have had a rather brisk landing speed on terra firma!
Happened on both two first trials….


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/756x504/image_d7620ea12d2d0dbc930596ecbd1dadf8bd65e873.jpeg