LOCUST Killer Drone Swarms are coming

popcorn · by **popcorn** » 17 Apr 2015, 13:09

Nasty .

www.bbc.com/news/technology-32334186

US Navy develops cannon-launched 'swarming' drones

The US Navy is developing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, that can be launched from a cannon and "swarm" in a co-ordinated attack.

The drones will be able to fly autonomously and "overwhelm an adversary", the US Office of Naval Research said of its Low-cost UAV Swarming Technology (Locust) programme.

Wings unfold once the drones are in the air and then they can fly in formation.

The US Navy plans to demonstrate the launch of 30 Locust drones in 2016.

More...

madrat · by **madrat** » 17 Apr 2015, 14:11

Is it like BAT?

popcorn · by **popcorn** » 17 Apr 2015, 15:02

madrat wrote:Is it like BAT?

Nope, a very different concept. LOCUST is powered, it swarms and there's a man in the loop.

KamenRiderBlade · by **KamenRiderBlade** » 17 Apr 2015, 15:08

How much effort must the project creators go through to create cool & easy to remember acronyms like LOCUST?

sprstdlyscottsmn · by **sprstdlyscottsmn** » 17 Apr 2015, 15:59

to make sure it fits properly? Only about an hour to get a few good candidates.

sferrin · by **sferrin** » 18 Apr 2015, 18:42

Doesn't look "cannon launched" to me. Just looks like a standard rocket launcher.

popcorn · by **popcorn** » 18 Apr 2015, 23:46

sferrin wrote:Doesn't look "cannon launched" to me. Just looks like a standard rocket launcher.

Yeah, tube-launched artillery.
Here's how the Chinese can quickly get eyes on target in a similar manner. Again, not a cannon.
http://www.popsci.com/china-shows-drones-fired-cannon

bring_it_on · by **bring_it_on** » 19 Apr 2015, 22:03

KamenRiderBlade wrote:How much effort must the project creators go through to create cool & easy to remember acronyms like LOCUST?

From experience I can say that there are people in DC (DOD and in other departments ) who pride themselves with coming up with these things :mrgreen:

popcorn · by **popcorn** » 19 Apr 2015, 23:41

... Close-In Covert Autonomous Disposable Aircraft (CICADA)

popcorn · by **popcorn** » 20 Apr 2015, 00:20

popcorn wrote:
sferrin wrote:Doesn't look "cannon launched" to me. Just looks like a standard rocket launcher.

Yeah, tube-launched artillery.
Here's how the Chinese can quickly get eyes on target in a similar manner. Again, not a cannon. (Edit - that bottom image looks to be a howitzer)
http://www.popsci.com/china-shows-drones-fired-cannon

popcorn · by **popcorn** » 04 Feb 2016, 17:40

I wonder if SECDEF was referring to LOCUST? Well, maybe somethinb like it... exciting stuff.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... ge-421516/

DOD reveals ‘arsenal plane’ and microdrones in budget speech
...
The Department of Defense (DOD) is also investing in “fast, resilient mircodrones” that can launch from fighter jets travelling at Mach 0.9 and fly through strong crosswinds...
Carter says the swarming, autonomous mircodrones were demonstrated during an operational exercise in Alaska in 2015. The drones are printed through additive manufacturing and use commercially available components, he says.

popcorn · by **popcorn** » 10 Feb 2016, 01:31

Nope, not LOCUST but Perdix, even smaller. Designed by college students and 3D-printed? Will give an IADS fits. :devil:

http://breakingdefense.com/2016/02/high ... 17-budget/
Another example on display in Work’s office is a tiny drone, small enough to fit in your hand — or into the flare dispenser on a manned aircraft such as an F-16. “It’s called the Perdix,” he said proudly. It’s a 3D-printed airframe with electronics from a commercial cellphone, designed by students at MIT. The mini-drone still has room to accommodate different payloads, and it’s able to communicate both with other Perdixes (Perdice?) and the manned aircraft acting as their mothership.

“Just imagine an airplane going in against an IAD (Integrated Air Defense) system and dropping 30 of these out that form into a network and do crazy things.” (Work didn’t give details, but acting as sensors and/or decoys seems likely). “We’ve tested this,” he said. “We’ve tested it and it works.”

popcorn · by **popcorn** » 22 Sep 2016, 04:06

More LOCUST...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FukTsKmXOo&sns=em

popcorn · by **popcorn** » 10 Jan 2017, 01:10

More on the PERDIX, a LOT more in a 100+ drone swarm managed by 3 SuperHornets.. can a killer swarm be far behind? Not an enviable prospect for the bad guys.
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/p ... rone-swarm

http://www.militarytimes.com/video/perd ... r_referral

garrya · by **garrya** » 10 Jan 2017, 11:29

popcorn wrote:More on the PERDIX, a LOT more in a 100+ drone swarm managed by 3 SuperHornets.. can a killer swarm be far behind? Not an enviable prospect for the bad guys.
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/p ... rone-swarm

http://www.militarytimes.com/video/perd ... r_referral

Holy sh*t

100+ drones at a time ?