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Autonomous Resupply Gliders Made Successful Deliveries On Their First Overseas Deployment
The gliders can be dropped from a variety of aircraft and could revolutionize how the military resupplies small units deployed in the field.
by Brett Tingley for THE WARZONE, February 2, 2022
Two C-130 cargo aircraft operated by “a U.S.-allied government in the Middle East” have completed successful deliveries using autonomous Silent Arrow GD-2000 cargo gliders in their first overseas deployment. Silent Arrow claims their disposable glider drones can be deployed for military resupply and disaster relief missions at half the cost of existing cargo airdrop systems.
According to a Silent Arrow press release, the successful delivery saw two of the glider drones loaded with 1,026 lbs of undisclosed cargo each, which were then dropped out of the C-130s over “a desert environment.” The GD-2000s then navigated and flew autonomously to their landing point, at which point they executed a flare to reduce their speed and landed successfully. The deliveries were conducted as part of a $1.5M operational evaluation contract, and the company expects to begin full-rate production in 2023 with orders “into the thousands of units.” Currently, 12 of the Block I GD-2000s are deployed to the Middle East, while another 15 are in production.
Electric Record Holder Enters Market With Inexpensive Cargo Drone
- Unpowered Silent Arrow® delivers 700 lb. and costs less than $10,000
- Development of electric-powered reusable varient begins
by Graham Warwick for Aviation Week, March 26-April 8, 2018
Chip Yates is best known for breaking speed records with an electric-powered motorcycle and aircraft. It is ironic, therefore, that the first product from his company, Yates Electrospace, should be an unmanned cargo glider.
Yates has exceeded 200 mph on the ground and in the air. He is currently rebuilding his Long-ESA electric aircraft in a bid to set more records. He is also working on a new aircraft, codenamed VFP—for Very Fast Plane—with which he plans to push the speed record on electric power beyond 400 mph.
Yates Electrospace has also done consulting work with several companies developing electric aircraft, including with startup Wright Electric on its plans to develop a battery-powered short-haul airliner. But the company's focus for now is on taking the Silent Arrow® cargo delivery UAV into large-scale production.
Under development since 2014, the GD-700 Silent Arrow® is an inexpensive, disposable glider that can deliver up to 700 lb. of cargo from a standoff distance of 23-49 mi. when air-launched from a helicopter or air-lifter at an altitude of 12,000-25,000 ft., respectively.
(See March 26-April 8, 2018 Aviation Week & Space Technology for the full article)
U.S. Marines To Test Disposable Resupply UAV
The U.S. Marine Corps plans to test an unmanned, disposable glider that can be launched from a transport aircraft to inexpensively but precisely deliver supplies to ground forces.
Startup Yates Electrospace will supply unpowered versions of its Silent Arrow electric-powered unmanned cargo aircraft to the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL). Under the 12-month program, the company will build and test 10 aircraft with gross weights to 500-1,000 lb.
Goals set by the MCWL include delivering 700 lb. of supplies to within 150 ft. with a low-cost, single-use aircraft, Yates says. This would reduce resupply costs by an order of magnitude while not compromising the position of forces being resupplied through noise or the need to recover the UAV.
The tandem-wing glider is designed to be deployed from a Lockheed Martin C-130 airlifter, Bell Boeing MV-22 tiltrotor or Sikorsky CH-53 helicopter from altitudes of 10,000-25,000 ft. and to achieve a glide ratio of between 8:1 and 15:1, for a range of 15-70 mi.
Yates was founded in 2012 by electric vehicle pioneer Chip Yates, who holds records for the fastest electric motorcycle (at 200 mph) and electric aircraft (exceeding 220 mph). In addition to its UAV business, Yates includes electric-aircraft developer Avius Electric and a research arm focused on midair recharging, kinetic energy recovery and drone delivery.
Yates’ website cites company milestones including a design contract with startup Wright Electric, which is developing an all-electric short-haul airliner, design of a nine-seat hybrid-electric commuter aircraft, and construction of a 500-kW contra-rotating electric propulsion unit. —Graham Warwick, graham.warwick@aviationweek.com
(See Media Downloads above for the full article on page 4 of the AerospaceDaily Dec. 5, 2017 edition)