Recently, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory awarded a contract to YEC Electric Aviation for the manufacture and delivery of a new cargo glider drone, the Silent Arrow precision-guided airdrop package. The new cargo glider UAV is a modification of the company's previously developed Silent Arrow GD-2000 glider UAV, which is smaller in size and capable of dropping pallets from the side and tail doors of the transport aircraft at high altitude to glide supplies to forward positions. The "Silent Arrow" precision-guided airdrop package has received attention as a microcosm of the current application of cargo drones to the military field. At present, many countries are vigorously developing military cargo drones, related technologies such as aerial launch, autonomous take-off and landing technology is maturing, forming a "you catch up with me" situation.
"Silent Arrow GD-2000 glider drone
Multiple countries compete to develop cargo drones
The development of military cargo drones cannot be driven by the civilian cargo drone market. The Global UAV Logistics and Transportation Market Report released by Markets and Markets, a globally renowned market research organization, predicts that the global logistics UAV market will grow to USD 29.06 billion in 2027, with a CAGR of 21.01% during the forecast period.
Based on the optimistic prediction of future logistics drone application scenarios and economic benefits, relevant research institutions and companies in many countries have put forward cargo drone development plans, which has resulted in the booming development of civilian cargo drones and has also boosted the development of military cargo drones.
In 2009, two U.S. companies cooperated to launch the K-MAX unmanned cargo helicopter, which adopts a double-rotor staggered layout, with a maximum load of 2.7 tons, a range of 500 km, and GPS navigation, and can carry out battlefield transport tasks at night, in mountainous areas, on plateaus and in other environments. During the war in Afghanistan, the K-MAX unmanned cargo helicopter flew more than 500 hours and transferred hundreds of tons of cargo. In view of the U.S. Army's desire to have a silent/low-voiced cargo drone, YEC Electric Aerospace launched the Silent Arrow GD-2000, a one-time-use, non-powered, glide-flying cargo drone made of tricot, which has a large-volume cargo compartment and four foldable wings, with a load capacity of about 700 kg, and can be used to In a test in 2023, the drone was launched with its wings deployed and landed with an accuracy of about 30 meters.
Israel has also been developing military cargo drones based on its expertise in the field of drones, and in 2013, the first flight of the Air Mule vertical takeoff and landing cargo drone developed by Israel's City Airways, known as the Cormorant for export, was successfully completed. The export model is called "Cormorant". The unmanned aerial vehicle has a peculiar shape, with two culvert fans in the fuselage, allowing the unmanned aerial vehicle to take off and land vertically, and two culvert fans installed in the tail, providing horizontal thrust for the unmanned aerial vehicle; its speed can reach 180 kilometers per hour, and it can transport 500 kilograms of cargo per sortie in a 50-kilometer combat radius, and it can even be used for aerial conveyance and transferring of the wounded.
In recent years, a Turkish company has also developed a cargo drone - "Albatross", whose rectangular fuselage is arranged with six pairs of counter-rotating propellers, with six support frames underneath, and a cargo bay can be mounted underneath the fuselage, which is capable of transporting all kinds of materials or transferring the wounded. It is capable of transporting all kinds of materials or transferring the injured.
Meanwhile, Windracer Ultra from the UK, Nuuva V300 from Slovenia, and VoloDrone from Germany are also more distinctive cargo drones with dual-use characteristics. In addition, some commercial multi-rotor UAVs are also able to undertake the task of transporting smaller quantities of materials by air to provide supplies and protection for the front line and outposts.
K-MAX unmanned cargo helicopter
VoloDrone cargo drone
Windracer Ultra cargo drone
Nuuva V300 cargo drone
"Air Mule" vertical take-off and landing cargo drone
It has its strengths and weaknesses
Compared with manned fixed-wing transport aircraft, transport helicopters and ground transportation channels, military cargo drones have both strengths and weaknesses in their role.
Their obvious strengths lie in their high reliability, safety and cost-effectiveness. First, cargo drones do not require cockpits, pressurized compartments or other life support systems, which reduces manufacturing and maintenance costs while leaving more space in the cabin for loading and transporting cargo, resulting in a higher volume utilization rate. Second, some of these drones do not require high levels of manufacturing materials. Again, it is capable of sustained operation in high-risk, high-threat environments. Like other unmanned equipment, once the challenge of highly automated control is solved, military cargo drones can transport goods continuously and efficiently according to instructions or procedures. In mountainous, plateau, high cold, complex weather and other harsh environments, and even in nuclear, biological and chemical contamination areas, it can still attempt to supply and safeguard the task, without the need to consider the pilot's physiological and psychological endurance problems like manned aircraft. In addition, cargo drones and manned transport aircraft "join hands", can get "1 + 1 > 2" effect.
Compared with the traditional mode of transportation, military cargo drones also have some shortcomings. The biggest shortcoming is that the fuselage is usually small, the volume is also small, can only transport some basic supplies, can not carry heavy large-size goods.
Therefore, from the current point of view, cargo drones have not been able to replace manned transport planes, helicopters and other air transportation forces, and even more unable to shake the main position of land-based military transportation lines.
Development needs more technical support
Most of the military cargo UAVs have been developed from civilian cargo UAVs, and therefore have dual-use characteristics. However, considering that the main environment of use is the battlefield, the development of military cargo drones also needs to be supported by some other key technologies. It is the interaction between these civil technologies and key technologies that makes military cargo UAVs have the possibility to fly deeper into the battlefield. In short, the development of military cargo drones in the future will need to be supported by the following technologies:
One is the technology that matches the current commercial airworthiness standards. Military cargo UAVs may not need to consider commercial airworthiness standards too much during wartime, but they still need to carry out a series of risk assessments and formulate systematic strategies during the development process to prevent the risk of jeopardizing their own aircraft and ground forces, especially in the aspects of flight control logic, which should be strictly controlled. If military cargo UAVs are to carry out military transportation tasks in peacetime, they still need to be designed and manufactured in accordance with commercial airworthiness standards, unless they are to operate in remote unmanned areas. At present, countries with dual-use cargo drones are generally cautious about their flights over populated areas. In the future, if military cargo UAVs want to realize "all-area free flight", they still need to further "match" with the current commercial airworthiness standards.
Secondly, the platform-specific technology is close to the actual combat. If civil cargo UAVs are mainly designed around emission reduction, consumption reduction and other goals, then the military cargo UAVs should highlight the requirements of close to the actual combat, in the low-visibility, low noise and other aspects of the effort. On the one hand, it is necessary to seek technological breakthroughs in power, so that cargo drones are both difficult to detect and powerful; on the other hand, it is necessary to make cargo drones more in line with military requirements through the adoption of new technologies and processes, and through continuous innovation in the aerodynamic, structural, strength and material aspects of drones.
Third, intelligent control and precise positioning technology. Military cargo UAVs will inevitably encounter a variety of emergencies during operation, as well as more complex terrain, to complete the task in this case, it is necessary to have the support of intelligent control and precise positioning technology. In this way, the UAV can be endowed with obstacle avoidance, path planning and cooperative capabilities. In addition, the research and application of advanced anti-jamming technology is also essential. Only with anti-jamming capability can cargo UAVs accurately locate and fly to their destinations in complex electromagnetic environments.
Fourth, advanced data chain technology. With the development of "swarm" technology, a large number of small cargo drones will be organized into a "swarm", taking on the task of delivering supplies to the front line in bulk, a scenario that is likely to appear on the battlefield in the future. To realize this, not only to ensure the coherence and stability of communication between drones and manned aircraft, but also to ensure the safety and smoothness of information exchange between drones and unmanned aircraft, unmanned aircraft and other equipment, which requires advanced data chain technology to provide support to ensure that the link is always reliable, trustworthy and available. It can be said that whether or not to have safe and reliable data chain technology will directly affect the overall level of the use of cargo drones in the future.
Fifth, air launch and autonomous takeoff and landing technology. In a state of war, the working environment of military cargo drones will be even more harsh, and it is usually difficult to find a complete runway, so countries are more favorable to cargo drones with vertical takeoff and landing capabilities. This requires relying on advanced air launch and autonomous takeoff and landing technologies to ensure the safe completion of a series of maneuvers. To be more specific, in order to find a simple landing site and land during the day and night, without much guidance from the ground, military cargo drones must realize "self-help" in these aspects through mature technology, so as to avoid problems such as stalling and landing, and to ensure that the cargo is intact and the transportation mission is accomplished.