AURORA, Colorado—Piasecki Aircraft has unveiled a small air-launched UAV designed to glide autonomously from altitude and deliver logistics payloads with precision without endangering an carrier aircraft.
Dubbed the Smuggler, the UAV “is a vehicle that is designed to provide logistics to small units operating in dispersed environments,” company President and CEO John Piasecki says. Configured with foldable wings, vertical and horizontal tails, the Smuggler can carry up to 25 lb. over a range of around 50 mi. after launching from altitudes up to 30,000 ft., he adds.
The vehicle, which was displayed at the Army Aviation Association of America summit here, was developed from an existing Piasecki design under a U.S. Air Force Advanced Research Laboratory (AFRL) contract. Flight tests took place for the first time in mid-2023 from the cargo ramp of a Lockheed Martin C-130. Piasecki has built two initial test vehicles and has five more units that are in various stages of completeness.
AFRL says the requirement calls for a system that needs “no additional hardware for launching and can be preprogrammed with a specific mission by the aircrew prior to departure from the host aircraft.
“The proposed system would allow payloads and cargo for personnel resupply missions to be delivered from a much larger standoff range than standard air drop capabilities, thus keeping air crews out of areas deemed hostile for manned operations and out of harm’s way,” AFRL adds. “The improved penetration capability and low detectability of the proposed glider system provides an advantage to the warfighter in personnel resupply missions,” it adds.
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