Dynetics Conducts Test Flight for X-61A Aircraft

An unmanned aerial system built by Dynetics flew for the first time in November at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah as part of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program.

The X-61A Gremlins Air Vehicle performed a captive-carry mission through a C-130A aircraft and showcased wing deployment, airborne launch and powered flight transition capacities during the test, the company said Friday.

The aircraft met all objectives and released a drogue chute to mark the end of the demonstration. Dynetics validated X-61A’s air and ground-based command and control systems and gathered data on the aircraft’s subsystem operations and performance.

“This flight test validates all the engineering design work, analysis, and ground testing we have performed in the past two and a half years,” said Brandon Hiller, X-61A chief engineer at Dynetics.

Dynetics led a team composed of Kratos Defense and Security Solutions’ unmanned aerial systems business, Airborne Systems, Applied Systems Engineering, Kutta Technologies, Moog, Sierra Nevada Corp., Systima Technologies and Williams International in line with the Gremlins program.