DARPA is looking to convert large manned aircrafts into flying aircraft carriers for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and they are looking for help. The idea is to lightly modify existing large transport planes, such as the C-130, to allow the launch and recovery of numerous small UAS.
Since the UAS have a short range compared to manned planes the are currently useless in long distant missions. However, the UAS carriers would be able to expand the area of operations. This would reduce the risk to pilots by keeping them out of hostile areas, while reducing military costs.
DARPA has issued a Request for Information with short responses that must address three primary areas:
System-level technologies and concepts that would enable low-cost reusable small UAS platforms and airborne launch and recovery systems that would require minimal modification of existing large aircraft types. This area includes modeling and simulation as well as feasibility analysis, including substantiating preliminary data if available.
Potentially high-payoff operational concepts and mission applications for distributed airborne capabilities and architectures, as well as relative capability and affordability compared to conventional approaches (e.g., monolithic aircraft and payloads or missile-based approaches). DARPA hopes to leverage significant investments in the area of precision relative navigation, which seeks to enable extremely coordinated flight activities among aircraft, as well as recent and ongoing development of small payloads (100 pounds or less).
Proposed plans for achieving full-system flight demonstrations within four years, to assist in planning for a potential future DARPA program. DARPA is interested not only in what system functionality such plans could reasonably achieve within that timeframe, but also how to best demonstrate this functionality to potential users and transition partners. These notional plans should include rough order-of-magnitude (ROM) cost and schedule information, as well as interim risk reduction and demonstration events to evaluate program progress and validate system feasibility and interim capabilities.
Responses are due November 26, 2014.
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