Posted on 02/14/2014 3:17:52 PM PST by Seizethecarp
According to Darpa “ARES is a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) flight module designed to operate as an unmanned platform capable of transporting a variety of payloads. The ARES VTOL flight module is designed to have its own power system, fuel, digital flight controls and remote command-and-control interfaces. Twin tilting ducted fans will provide efficient hovering and landing capabilities in a compact configuration, with rapid conversion to high-speed cruise flight.”
ARES is the transformer-like, UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) capable to move between an airport, a warship, or an improvised landing zone and the battlefield, and perform a wide variety of missions, including cargo transportation, casualties evacuation as well as Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance.
In other words, ARES will replace the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and a few other platforms.
(Excerpt) Read more at theaviationist.com ...
SKYNET
“In other words, ARES will replace the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and a few other platforms.”
Seems a bit of a stretch!
V-22 has extensive personnel-carrying missions, which aren’t contemplated to be entrusted to pilotless aircraft in the near future, as far as I know.
I wonder if they plan on using them for replenishment of supplies. Beans and bullets to the front line guys.
I’ve got to think AEW (radar, ship stays EMCON, drone takes off, flies off/up, lights up), ASW (dipping sonar, dropping sonabuoys, dropping Mk 50 or 54 aerial torpedos), would be more likely.
Just a guess, though.
Will the drones deliver roses on Valentine’s Day to a few mosques in the country? You know, for tolerance.
“I wonder if they plan on using them for replenishment of supplies. Beans and bullets to the front line guys.”
The second Pentagon-approved representation at the link seems to depict that!
Yuck, I’ve got a better design than that.
aerodynamically this thing sucks IF it they really plan in using the artist’s conception as the basis
At least they finally agree that Custer's Channel Wing is a good idea..
I thought that it looked like a modular design, and the article calls it a “module”, so I thought I’d check the DARPA site. According to the DARPA site, it will be a modular design. The wing/fans/engines/fuel/control module will be able to attach to several different “mission modules”, depending on the requirements of the mission. That design provides a lot of valuable flexibility. Impressive.
Getting airlifted from near a fire zone in an unmanned craft? They would have to put me out first!
And it doesn’t exist yet. Criminitly you cannot have some artist give you a pretty picture and then just magically say to the engineers, hey make it work. That never turns out well.
As pictured this is a hot mess
Won’t be built because as presented it won’t fly
More likely to get hi-rez pics of the guys breaking some ROE that puts them at hi-risk...
A lot of people said that about the Osprey. (I won’t mention bumble bees.)
And I was not one of them.
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