Futuristic Unmanned Resupply Vehicle

[popcorn]

This is a no-brainer.

http://www.defencetalk.com/us-army-lab- ... cle-68154/

US Army Lab Showcases Futuristic Unmanned Resupply Vehicle

Army researchers envision a future JTARV flying low to the ground or at thousands of feet at speeds of 60 miles per hour or more. With a payload capacity of up to 300 pounds, the vehicle could provide vital resupply at short ranges.

“Anywhere on the battlefield, Soldiers can potentially get resupplied in less than 30 minutes.” said Tim Vong, associate chief of the Army Research Laboratory’s Protection Division. He likened the concept to “Amazon on the battlefield.”

“We want to have options like that,” Vong said.

While the current prototype is electric, researchers are looking at a hybrid propulsion system that may dramatically increase its range. They are also exploring increasing the payload capacity to 800 pounds and extending the range to 125 miles.

“We’re also looking to integrate advanced intelligent navigat

[rheonomic]

While the current prototype is electric, researchers are looking at a hybrid propulsion system that may dramatically increase its range. They are also exploring increasing the payload capacity to 800 pounds and extending the range to 125 miles

Unless they've got magical batteries there's no way they're going to get that kind of payload and range with electric propulsion. Not to mention multirotors are terrible at range/endurance.

[popcorn]

While the current prototype is electric, researchers are looking at a hybrid propulsion system that may dramatically increase its range. They are also exploring increasing the payload capacity to 800 pounds and extending the range to 125 miles

Unless they've got magical batteries there's no way they're going to get that kind of payload and range with electric propulsion. Not to mention multirotors are terrible at range/endurance.

The way I understand the article is the prototype is battery-powered but the first operational vehicle will be powered by that unspecified 'hybrid propulsion system'.

[rheonomic]

Even the 300 lb payload is a stretch for a quad. Of course, I could see them prototyping the GNC algorithms on a quad at the moment. For the autonomy they're mentioning they might be able to leverage some of the results of DARPA's Fast Lightweight Autonomy program.

[popcorn]

Even the 300 lb payload is a stretch for a quad. Of course, I could see them prototyping the GNC algorithms on a quad at the moment. For the autonomy they're mentioning they might be able to leverage some of the results of DARPA's Fast Lightweight Autonomy program.

depends on the size of the quad I suppose.

[rheonomic]

Make the quad large enough and you might as well use a K-MAX.

[popcorn]

K-MAX's been doing that for years. I think they see the advantages of terrain-hugging flight, doing away with cargo in a sling. Also AFAIK ducted fans allow for a safer, quieter less conspicuous design. The hybrid propulsion is intriguing.