'Small-deck ships such as destroyers and frigates could greatly increase their effectiveness if they had their own unmanned air systems (UASs) to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and other capabilities at long range around the clock,' Darpa and the U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Research said.
'As part of Tern's ongoing progress toward that goal, Darpa has awarded Phase 3 of Tern to a team led by the Northrop Grumman Corporation.'
In Phase 3, Darpa plans to build a full-scale demonstrator system of a medium-altitude, long-endurance UAS designed to use forward-deployed small ships as mobile launch and recovery sites.
Initial ground-based testing, if successful, would lead to an at-sea demonstration of takeoff, transition to and from horizontal flight, and landing--all from a test platform with a deck size similar to that of a destroyer or other small surface-combat vessel.
'The design we have in mind for the Tern demonstrator could greatly increase the effectiveness of any host ship by augmenting awareness, reach and connectivity,' said Dan Patt, Darpa program manager.