The Defense Advanced Research and Projects Agency has chosen six corporations to maneuver forward on an experimental, low-weight drone that may take off and land vertically from a ship.
The businesses DARPA chosen for its ANCILLARY program — also often called the Advanced Aircraft Infrastructure-Less Launch and Recovery program — include a mixture of major defense contractors and smaller aeronautics corporations. AeroVironment, Griffon Aerospace, Karem Aircraft, Method Aeronautics, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky will now further develop and refine their proposed ANCILLARY designs.
DARPA wants ANCILLARY to guide to a future drone that may sooner or later be deployed and retrieved from Navy ships without large mechanical launchers or landing and recovery equipment. These drones could carry cargo, conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, and track and goal enemies beyond a ship’s line of sight, DARPA said.
These small drones must give you the chance to take off and land like a helicopter from the flight decks of ships or rough surfaces in most weather conditions, after which fly missions like a winged aircraft, DARPA said. It also must give you the chance to hold large payloads and fly for long distances when needed.
“The goal of ANCILLARY is to extend small vertical takeoff-and-landing uncrewed aerial system [or UAS] capabilities by an element of three over the present state-of-the-art flying today,” DARPA program manager Steve Komadina said in a press release. “Our performers are looking for progressive ways to extend payload weight and range [and] endurance of small, ship-launched UAS by way of novel configurations, propulsion, and controls while also removing the necessity for special infrastructure.”
Komadina said the Navy and Marine Corps could be almost certainly to make use of this technology, however it may be useful for the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, and U.S. Special Operations Command.
In June 2023, DARPA picked nine corporations to pitch their initial concepts for ANCILLARY, before now whittling the list right down to six. Those firms will now enter a 10-month phase wherein they struggle to cut back the risks on their design, and conduct hover testing of elements of their proposed aircraft. Once this phase is finished, the businesses will submit proposals to maneuver on to the following phase, which is able to include fabrication and flight testing.
Formal flight tests of the general design are expected to start out in early 2026, DARPA said.
Christopher Harris, this system manager for Northrop’s ANCILLARY effort, said in an interview the corporate is incorporating its work on autonomous capabilities, vertical takeoff and landing and long-endurance aircraft design for its ANCILLARY pitch.
Pulling together an aircraft that may perform the sort of endurance requirements DARPA set, with no need launch and recovery infrastructure, is difficult, Harris said May 24.
Northrop’s aircraft will give you the chance to hold payloads of 60 kilos, and fly a spread of 100 nautical miles for as much as 20 hours. The corporate’s version of ANCILLARY will use a pair of rotors to take off and land, and one other rotor as a propeller to fly forward, he said.
ANCILLARY will give you the chance to take off and land from a ship in adversarial sea conditions, and operate in highly contested environments, Harris said. And it could help with logistics by helping unload a ship and moving cargo to shore. Northrop is incorporating its work on autonomous capabilities, vertical takeoff and landing and long-endurance aircraft design for its ANCILLARY pitch, Harris said.
“We now have a wide selection of supplier awareness, now we have our own progressive technologies, and now we have a team that we expect is uniquely capable to deliver what DARPA is asking for here,” he said.
Sikorsky said Wednesday it’s conducting flight tests on its version of ANCILLARY. The corporate refers to its design as a “rotor blown wing,” which sits upright on its tail to take off like a helicopter, then transitions to horizontal forward flight.
Sikorsky said such a design will reduce drag on the wing when the aircraft is hovering and shifting to forward flight, and lead to higher efficiency and endurance when cruising.
“Flight tests are under strategy to confirm our tail-sitting rotor blown wing UAS can launch and land vertically with high stability, and cruise efficiently on wing,” Igor Cherepinsky, director of Sikorsky Innovations, the corporate’s rapid prototyping group.
Cherepinsky said the articulated rotor system in Sikorsky’s version of ANCILLARY is comparable to a standard helicopter’s rotors, and the aircraft will use Lockheed’s autonomous MATRIX technology in its flight controls.
Sikorsky’s aircraft now in flight tests is powered by a battery, but the corporate plans to construct a 300-pound hybrid electric version whether it is chosen to proceed on this system. That aircraft would carry a 60-pound ISR payload, the corporate said.
Method Aeronautics said in a press release that it’s working with Sierra Nevada Corp., which has a background in landing systems an aircraft modification and integration, and Bechamo on this project. Bechamo is an organization that makes a speciality of using artificial intelligence to create aircraft flight controls.
“Method’s design brings a novel approach enabling efficient, robust VTOL [vertical takeoff-and-landing] capability for Group 3 UAS,” Method said in a press release. “Method sees this program as critical technology development to enable wider use of VTOL UAS by U.S. forces abroad, and is actively working to speed up development beyond the scope of the award.”
Group 3 drones are under 1,320 kilos and fly at speeds of as much as 250 knots.
Statements from AeroVironment, Griffon and Karem 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.