DARPA SideArm and TALONS Concepts Show Potential for New UAS Capabilities at Sea

Tern, a joint program between DARPA and the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR), seeks to give forward-deployed small ships the unprecedented capacity to serve as mobile launch and recovery platforms for medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial systems (UAS).

These systems would provide long-range intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and other capabilities over greater distances and time periods than helicopters and would require far less dedicated infrastructure resources than conventional fixed-wing manned and unmanned aircraft.

As part of its individual investment in Tern, DARPA has launched two successful technology demonstration efforts that grew from Phase 1 research and are separately approaching potential transition to the Services:

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