How can supplies be safely and quickly delivered to front-line positions? Cargo drones are becoming a new choice.
Recently, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory awarded a contract to YEC Electric Aviation Company for the production and delivery of a new type of cargo glider drone – the “Silent Arrow” precision-guided airdrop package.
This new cargo glider drone is a modified version of the company’s earlier “Silent Arrow” GD-2000 glider drone, with a reduced size. It can be deployed using pallets from the side and rear doors of transport aircraft, gliding to deliver materials to front-line positions.
The “Silent Arrow” precision-guided airdrop package has garnered attention as a snapshot of the current application of cargo drones in the military field. Currently, many countries are actively developing military cargo drones, with technologies such as aerial deployment and autonomous takeoff and landing becoming increasingly mature, creating a competitive development environment.
So, which countries are developing military cargo drones? Why are military cargo drones receiving such attention and importance? What are the keys to their research and widespread adoption? Let’s delve into these questions.
Multiple Countries Competing in the Development of Cargo Drones
The development of military cargo drones is inseparable from the push of the civilian cargo drone market. A renowned market research firm, Markets and Markets, released a report predicting that the global logistics drone market will grow to $29.06 billion by 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of 21.01%.
Based on optimistic predictions about the future application scenarios and economic benefits of logistics drones, various countries’ research institutions and companies have proposed development plans for cargo drones. The burgeoning development of civilian cargo drones has, in turn, spurred the growth of military cargo drones.
In 2009, two American companies collaborated to launch the K-MAX unmanned cargo helicopter. This helicopter, with a contra-rotating rotor layout, has a maximum payload of 2.7 tons and a range of 500 kilometers. It uses GPS navigation and can perform battlefield transportation tasks in night-time, mountainous, and high-altitude environments. During the war in Afghanistan, the K-MAX unmanned cargo helicopter flew for over 500 hours, transporting hundreds of tons of cargo. However, this helicopter, being a modification of an existing manned model, has a loud engine and can easily reveal its own and the front-line combat team’s positions.
Considering the U.S. military’s desire for a silent/low-noise cargo drone, YEC Electric Aviation Company introduced the “Silent Arrow” GD-2000, a disposable, unpowered glider cargo drone made from plywood. This drone has a large cargo bay and four foldable wings, with a payload of around 700 kilograms, suitable for delivering ammunition and supplies to the front lines. In a 2023 test, this drone, after deployment, unfolded its wings and flew, with a landing accuracy of about 30 meters.
Leveraging its technological accumulation in the drone field, Israel has also embarked on the development of military cargo drones.
In 2013, Urban Aeronautics of Israel successfully conducted the first flight of its “Air Mule” vertical takeoff and landing cargo drone, with its export model known as the “Cormorant” drone. This drone has a unique design, with two ducted fans in the body allowing for vertical takeoff and landing, and two more in the tail providing horizontal thrust. It can reach speeds of 180 kilometers per hour, delivering 500 kilograms of cargo per sortie within a 50-kilometer radius, and can even be used for aerial evacuation and transporting the wounded.
A Turkish company has also developed a cargo drone in recent years – the “Albatross.” This drone has a rectangular body with six pairs of counter-rotating propellers and six support struts. It can carry a cargo bay underneath, capable of transporting various materials or evacuating the wounded, resembling a “flying centipede” bristling with propellers.
Meanwhile, the UK’s Windracer Ultra, Slovenia’s Nuuva V300, and Germany’s VoloDrone are also notable cargo drones with dual-use (military and civilian) capabilities.
Additionally, some commercial multirotor drones can also undertake air transportation of smaller quantities of materials, providing supply and support to front-line positions and outposts.
Image of K-MAX Unmanned Cargo Helicopter
Image of VoloDrone Cargo Drone
Strengths and Limitations
Compared to manned fixed-wing transport aircraft, transport helicopters, and ground transportation channels, military cargo drones have their strengths and limitations.
Their obvious advantage lies in their high reliability, safety, and cost-effectiveness.
Firstly, cargo drones do not require a cockpit, pressurized cabin, or other life support systems, which reduces manufacturing and maintenance costs while allowing more space in the cabin for cargo, resulting in higher volume utilization.
Secondly, some of these drones do not have high material requirements. For example, the “Silent Arrow” GD-2000 glider drone is made from relatively inexpensive plywood, which not only lowers costs but also shortens the development and production cycle.
Thirdly, they can operate continuously in high-risk, high-threat environments. Like other unmanned equipment, once the challenge of high-level automation is solved, military cargo drones can transport goods continuously and efficiently according to instructions or programs. In harsh environments such as mountains, highlands, extreme cold, complex weather, and even nuclear and biochemical contamination areas, they can still carry out supply and support missions without the need to consider the physiological and psychological endurance of pilots, as is the case with manned aircraft.
Additionally, cargo drones, in conjunction with manned transport aircraft, can achieve a “1+1>2” effect. Small cargo drones carried by manned fixed-wing transport aircraft can be released in the target airspace and then autonomously deliver goods, not only aiding in supplying more distant support points and ensuring the safety of the manned transport aircraft but also using this “split” to ensure the success rate of air transport.
Especially for small batches of emergency supplies, such as medicines, water, batteries, weapon parts, etc., the advantages of using cargo drones for transportation are even more apparent.
However, military cargo drones are not without their drawbacks. Compared to traditional transportation methods, they also have some shortcomings. The biggest limitation is that they are generally small in size and volume, only capable of transporting basic supplies and unable to carry heavy or large-sized cargo. For example, the K-MAX unmanned cargo helicopter, when compared to manned helicopters in terms of carrying capacity, is only lightweight, with a maximum payload of 2.7 tons. Moreover, most cargo drones can only carry a few hundred kilograms of cargo and are unable to transport equipment like airborne combat vehicles, ultra-light howitzers, assault vehicles, etc., to deployment sites, nor can they deploy large numbers of troops and materials in an organized manner like road and rail lines.
Therefore, from the current perspective, cargo drones cannot yet replace manned transport aircraft and helicopters or other aerial transport forces, nor can they shake the dominant position of land-based military transport lines.
Image of “Silent Arrow” GD-2000 Glider Drone
Development Requires More Technological Support
Most military cargo drones have evolved from civilian cargo drones, hence they have dual-use (military and civilian) characteristics. However, considering that their primary environment of use is the battlefield, the development of military cargo drones also requires support from several other key technologies.
It is the interaction of these civilian technologies with key technologies that enables military cargo drones to potentially reach deeper into the battlefield.
In short, the future development of military cargo drones will require support from the following types of technologies:
- Technologies compatible with current commercial airworthiness standards. Military cargo drones may not need to consider commercial airworthiness standards too much during wartime, but during the development process, a series of risk assessments must be carried out, and systemic strategies formulated to prevent risks to one’s own aircraft and ground troops, especially in terms of flight control logic. If military cargo drones are to perform military transport tasks during peacetime, unless they operate in remote uninhabited areas, they still need to be designed and manufactured in accordance with commercial airworthiness standards. Currently, countries that have dual-use cargo drones generally adopt a cautious attitude towards their flight over populated areas. Clearly, for military cargo drones to achieve “free flight in all domains” in the future, they will need to further align with current commercial airworthiness standards.
- Platform-specific technologies closely aligned with actual combat. If civilian cargo drones are mainly designed around objectives such as emission reduction and consumption reduction, then military cargo drones need to emphasize requirements closely aligned with actual combat, putting significant effort into low visibility, low noise, etc. On one hand, technological breakthroughs in power are sought to make cargo drones both hard to detect and powerful; on the other hand, through the adoption of new technologies and processes, continuous innovation in the aerodynamics, structure, strength, and materials of drones is required to make cargo drones more suitable for military use.
- Intelligent control and precise positioning technologies. Military cargo drones will inevitably encounter various emergencies and complex terrain and landscapes during operation. To complete tasks under these conditions, they must be equipped with intelligent control and precise positioning technologies. This will endow drones with obstacle avoidance, path planning, and coordination capabilities. Additionally, research and application of advanced anti-interference technologies are essential. Only with anti-interference capabilities can cargo drones accurately position themselves in complex electromagnetic environments and fly to their destinations.
- Advanced data link technology. With the development of “swarm” technology, it is very likely that a large number of small cargo drones will be grouped into “swarms” to undertake tasks of transporting supplies to the front lines in bulk. This scenario may appear on future battlefields. To achieve this, not only must communication between unmanned and manned aircraft be coherent and stable, but information exchange between drones, as well as between drones and other equipment, must also be secure and smooth. This requires advanced data link technology to ensure that the link is always trustworthy, reliable, and available. Whether secure and reliable data link technology is available will directly affect the overall level of cargo drone use in the future.
- Aerial delivery and autonomous takeoff and landing technologies. In wartime, the working environment of military cargo drones will be more severe, and it is often difficult to find complete runways. Therefore, countries generally favor cargo drones with vertical takeoff and landing capabilities. This requires reliance on advanced aerial delivery and autonomous takeoff and landing technologies to ensure the safe completion of a series of actions. To be more specific, to find simple landing spots during both day and night and land without too much ground guidance, military cargo drones must achieve “self-help” in these aspects through mature technology, thus avoiding problems such as stall landing, ensuring the integrity and safety of cargo, and achieving the transport mission.
Source: China Military Network
