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Silent Arrow to Develop a Long-Range Powered Cargo Drone for AFWERX

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Silent Arrow to Develop a Long-Range Powered Cargo Drone for AFWERX
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Silent Arrow announced it has been selected by AFWERX for a SBIR contract focused on the Silent Arrow CLS-300 ("Contested Logistics System, 300 Nautical Miles") to address one of the most pressing challenges in the Department of the Air Force (DAF).

The CLS-300 is based on the commercially successful Silent Arrow GD-2000, the world's first heavy payload, autonomous and attritable cargo delivery aircraft designed to carry 1,500 lbs. of cargo over 35 nautical miles when deployed from cargo aircraft such as the Lockheed Martin C-130, Boeing C-17 and Airbus A400M.

The Silent Arrow GD-2000 is will be scaled up and fitted with an innovative propulsion system to extend the flight range by a factor of 10x

Whereas the GD-2000 is a glider, the new CLS-300 can travel nearly 10 times as far by utilizing an innovative propulsion unit and propeller system that are inexpensive enough to allow the entire cargo drone to be attritable.  In addition to being air droppable, it will also be capable of taking off from the ground including from unimproved surfaces, naval vessels and other launch points.

Chip Yates

Top Photo: Conceptual image of the AFWERX funded Silent Arrow CLS-300 (Contested Logistics System, 300 Nautical Miles)

Source: Press Release

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