Nichols Martin
Leidos‘ Dynetics subsidiary and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency have demonstrated the airborne recovery capability of an unmanned aerial vehicle under development.
A pair of X-61 Gremlin Air Vehicles exhibited autonomous formations and safety features before a C-130 aircraft recovered one GAV unit, DARPA said Friday.
“This recovery was the culmination of years of hard work and demonstrates the feasibility of safe, reliable airborne recovery,” said Lt. Col. Paul Calhoun, who manages the Gremlins program within DARPA’s tactical technology office.
GAVs are built to allow ground personnel to refurbish the aircraft for a succeeding mission within 24 hours.
The Gremlins team refurbished an X-61 for a second flight in the demonstration’s final experiment and gathered data on GAV ‘s performance, aerodynamic interactions and contract dynamics for airborne retrieval across a total of four flights. One GAV did not physically survive through the tests.
