Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Darpa Awards First-Phase Contracts for 'Gremlins' UAS Project
The program envisions launching "volleys" of small unmanned aircraft systems from a host aircraft, then retrieving them in mid-air.
Darpa emphasizes the use of low-cost, reusable small unmanned aircraft systems for its 'Gremlins' project. (Image: Darpa)
Darpa emphasizes the use of low-cost, reusable small unmanned aircraft systems for its 'Gremlins' project. (Image: Darpa)

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) awarded first-phase contracts to four companies under its “Gremlins” program to develop a means for aircraft to launch “volleys” of low-cost, reuseable unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and also retrieve them in mid-air. The program aims to conduct a proof-of-concept flight demonstration that would validate “an air recovery concept of multiple gremlins.”