Dynetics X-61 Gremlins
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The Dynetics X-61 Gremlins is an experimental
unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...
designed by
Dynetics Dynetics is an American applied science and information technology company headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama. Its primary customers are the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the United States Intelligence Community, and National Ae ...
.


Design and development

The X-61 stemmed from the
DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adv ...
Gremlins program to demonstrate a recoverable, low-cost UAV with digital flight controls and navigation systems. It is designed to be recovered in midair by a modified transport airplane following its mission. Dynetics was one of four companies to be awarded a Phase I contract for the program in 2016, and was the winner of the Phase III contract in April 2018. The X-61A is powered by a
Williams F107 The Williams F107 (company designation WR19) is a small turbofan engine made by Williams International. The F107 was designed to propel cruise missiles. It has been used as the powerplant for the AGM-86 ALCM, and BGM-109 Tomahawk, as well as the ...
turbofan The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
engine and can carry a variety of payloads, including electro-optical sensors, infrared imagers,
electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...
systems, and weapons. It was designed to be compatible with existing launch and ground support equipment. The UAV is semi-autonomous, allowing a controller either in the mothership or on the ground to control up to eight X-61As at one time.


Operational history

As of January 2020, five X-61A Gremlins have been built. On July 5, 2019, an
earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
near
China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake is a United States military facility in California. China Lake may also refer to: Places in the United States *China Lake, Kern County, California, an unincorporated community named for a nearby dry lake *Chi ...
damaged some of the first X-61A's test equipment, delaying the program. The first captive flight of the X-61A on board a
Lockheed C-130A Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 ...
mother ship was in November 2019. The first free flight of the X-61A was conducted on January 17, 2020. The flight was successful, however, the main parachute failed to deploy during the recovery and the aircraft was lost. The four remaining vehicles are still operational. In August 2020 the company announced they had completed a second test flight, this time successfully recovering the aircraft by parachute. The flight lasted over two hours and included rendezvous and formation flight with the C-130 mother ship. In October 2021 DARPA announced that a specially equipped C-130 Hercules cargo plane had successfully recovered an X-61A from mid-air.


Specifications


See also


References


External links

{{X-planes Unmanned aerial vehicles of the United States Unmanned experimental aircraft Dynetics aircraft 2010s United States experimental aircraft Low-wing aircraft Cruciform tail aircraft Single-engined jet aircraft Aircraft first flown in 2020