Flight-test C-130 Will Have Multiple Gremlins

Dynetics has won the U.S. Defense Advance Projects Research Agency (DARPA) contract to demonstrate the airborne launch and recovery from a C-130 of multiple small UAVs. The Huntingdon, Alabama-based company heads one of  three teams that were chosen to study the Gremlins concept in March 2016. After a subsequent downselect, Dynetics and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA‑ASI) submitted competing preliminary designs for the ambitious system. 

The Phase 3 contract DARPA awarded exclusively to Dynetics is worth $38.6 million and will culminate in a flight demonstration in late 2019. “While we offer prime contractor-like capabilities in several areas, the nature of our company structure and philosophy is well suited for programs such as Gremlins, where innovation, agility, and affordability are necessary for success," said Mark Miller, vice president for missile and aviation systems for Dynetics.

According to Dynetics, the ability for a single, manned aircraft to stand off from danger yet manage multiple air vehicles equipped with sensors and other payloads lends itself well to enhanced support of tactical strike, reconnaissance/surveillance, and close air support missions. “The potential to overwhelm an adversary continuously with multiple volleys is tremendous," said Tim Keeter, chief engineer, Dynetics.

The UAV recovery solution Dynetics proposed involves deploying a towed, stabilized capture device below and away from the C-130. The air vehicle docks with the device much like an airborne refueling operation. Once docked and powered off, the air vehicle is raised to the C-130, where it is mechanically secured and stowed. The key technologies can be straightforwardly adapted to allow under-wing recovery and bay recovery by other cargo aircraft, the company says.

The partners to Dynetics for the Gremlins program are Kratos (the air vehicle); Systima Technologies (C-130 pylon and launch controller hardware); Sierra Nevada Corp (multi-vehicle control and precision navigation system for the rendezvous and docking on the C-130); and International Air Response (the C-130 flight test aircraft). Plus, on the UAVs themselves, Williams International (engines); Applied Systems Engineering (flight computer); Moog (control actuation systems); and Airborne Systems (parachute recovery systems).

Dynetics previously designed the GBU-69/B Small Glide Munition for the U.S. Special Operations Command, the control fins for the GBU 43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) munition, and the GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP).