The Defense Department has chosen 4 corporations to develop prototypes of a modular drone that might be used to check payloads, sensors and other technology, and be produced at high rates at a reasonable cost.
Anduril Industries, Integrated Solutions for Systems Inc., Leidos Dynetics, and Zone 5 Technologies will develop prototypes for the Enterprise Test Vehicle project, the Air Force Armament Directorate and Defense Innovation Unit announced Monday. Greater than 100 firms applied to participate on this program.
The prototypes ought to be ready for the primary flight demonstration in late summer or fall, DIU and the Air Force said. After those demonstrations happen, DIU and the Air Force will pick at the very least one promising prototype to maintain developing right into a version that might be rapidly scaled into production.
“We’re excited to partner with DIU,” Andrew Hunter, the Air Force’s assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, said in the discharge. “The ETV presents a chance to leverage promising ideas from industry to create and refine inexpensive designs for test capabilities that might be produced on a relevant timeline.”
Cassie Johnson, the ETV program manager for the Air Force Armament Directorate, said it was necessary to create more opportunities for non-traditional aerospace firms to satisfy this system’s cost, timeline, and production quantity goals.
ETV is meant to be a test vehicle designed using an open systems architecture approach, which might be updated with modular subsystems after which used to validate whether those recent components work properly.
DIU said in a September 2023 solicitation that the system must have a spread of 500 nautical miles, or 926 kilometers, and have the option to deliver a kinetic payload.
DIU and the Air Force said Monday that vendors will minimize the use of pricy materials and as a substitute use industrial off-the-shelf components as much as possible to carry down costs and keep supply chains flowing.
The ETV vendors also need to make certain the drones usually are not “over-engineered” for his or her mission, use modern manufacturing and design techniques, and have the option to supply at a high rate that might not be possible with a more elaborate design.
DIU and the Air Force said that ETV will have the option to be deployed in large numbers and using quite a lot of launch methods to “create an awesome dilemma for any defending adversary.”
ETV is anticipated for use as a part of the Pentagon’s ambitious Replicator program.
The Air Force Research Laboratory, U.S. Special Operations Command, Naval Air Systems Command, and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command are also collaborating on the ETV program or helping evaluate systems.
Jason Levin, senior vp of Anduril’s air dominance and strike division, said in an announcement that the corporate expects to have the option to deliver a reasonable, modular and capable prototype that may develop into the premise for large-scale production of future aircraft.
“Like all Anduril products, our ETV solution goals to deliver capabilities in years, not a long time, filling critical capability gaps on a relevant timeline,” Levin said. “On this case, meaning pioneering solutions to enable on-demand large-scale manufacturing to attain inexpensive mass.”
Mark Miller, senior vp for missile and aviation systems at Leidos Dynetics, said in an email to Defense News that the corporate’s proposed aircraft will likely be a “compelling offer” for the ETV project.
“Leidos’ ETV technology is the proper merger of our strike systems expertise, as exemplified by the modular, inexpensive and network enabled GBU-69 Small Glide Munition, and our recent experience developing the air-launched, and air-recovered, X-61 Gremlins” drone, Miller said.
Statements from Integrated Solutions and Zone 5 weren’t immediately available.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.