SBIR-STTR Award

The Low Cost Ground Launched Expendable Drone Trade Study (DARPA ILED) is a ground launched expendable unmanned aerial system (UAS) that is intended to provide a low cost swarm capable system to defense forces. The goal of the program is to conduct a trade study of aircraft capable of ground launch, potentially common launch tube (CLT) compatible, from a small operational and logistic footprint. The aircraft can carry up to 15 lbs of modular payload and fly for over an hour. Aircraft design parameters such as payload size, weight, and power (SWAP), payload type, aircraft gross weight, performance metrics such as range, endurance, and airspeed, communications, and physical size will be optimized to the mission objectives targeted by the effort. The system will be designed with robust modularity to allow for alternative payloads or other desired kinetic effects. This program will result in a conceptual optimized design and configuration of the DARPA ILED air vehicle and the launcher system. Detailed design, fabrication, and prototype flight testing is intended to occur in a follow-on Phase II contract.

Future warfare is heading in the direction of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms numbering into the thousands of units, which will enable them to act as a force multiplier and expand capability. It is cost prohibitive to employ today’s drones in a large quantity and single-use operations, and so a new generation of drones needs to be designed in a cost-focused approach that still meets required performance and mission objectives. Since the intent is not to recover a drone, there is a need to design and develop an expendable, low-cost, long-endurance, payload-carrying drone that is flexible enough to adapt to a variety of environments and operational scenarios. Additionally, the launch platform needs to be scalable for deploying large numbers of drones within a time span of minutes while requiring minimal operator input, setup, and physical footprint. DYZNE Technologies conducted a Phase I trade study that involved analyzing a large trade space of both vehicle design concepts and launcher systems that could meet or exceed desired capabilities of the ILED program. DZYNE used its extensive experience in UAS engineering and development to comprehensively evaluate the complex interplay of system capability, material cost, available battery technology, manufacturing techniques, operator skill, and overall system cost. The output of this trade study was the recommended approach of a simplified tube launch design, which DZYNE is uniquely suited to perform the detailed engineering and manufacturing based on its extensive experience in developing ground-based tube-launched systems. Lessons learned from prior programs will be applied to the design, program planning, cost and schedule. Being able to apply these lessons-learned up front will allow the company to identify and reduce risk to development and test. The ILED simplified tube-launched sUAS would be an extension of the knowledge and expertise honed over years of designing tube launched systems. The proposed design would allow the aerial vehicle to be both stored and pneumatically launched from an expendable cannister and contain a number of innovative features to maximize performance while keeping system costs low. The combined storage and launch canister characteristic length and diameter were selected to maximize vehicle performance versus cost, with the minimal number of simplified folding joints for the wing and tail surfaces. DYZNE plans to improve the system architecture in Phase ll to allow rapid deployment and integration with the warfighter.