DARPA moves up flight tests for five new military drone prototypes
DARPA is accelerating flight tests for five advanced military drone prototypes into this year, pulling the schedule forward from 2026. The move underscores growing Pentagon pressure to speed up unmanned aircraft development as low-cost drones reshape the battlefield.
The effort sits in the next phase of the ANCILLARY program, which is aimed at aircraft that can launch and recover without dedicated infrastructure. DARPA is focusing on rapid prototyping and early testing of Group 3 unmanned aircraft, a class weighing about 330 lb, to expose problems in flight and fix them quickly rather than chasing a perfect first sortie. To save time, the agency is deferring some specific requirements tied to maximum physical dimensions and fully autonomous takeoff and landing in high sea states. That allows it to concentrate on autonomy, payload integration and getting hardware into the air sooner.
A central part of the plan is heavy use of Sikorsky’s MATRIX autonomy system, a flight control package developed from DARPA’s ALIAS work and designed for both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. The system can manage flight control and navigation across an entire mission, from takeoff to landing, reducing the burden on a remote operator during long transits. All five prototypes will also carry the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division’s Battle Management System payload management software, which is intended to let the aircraft pass information directly to individual troops as needed. The designs will vary, but every prototype must meet the same baseline targets: at least 12 hours of endurance, a range of 100 nautical miles and the ability to carry a 60-lb payload.
DARPA said it is looking across performance, cost, usability, interoperability, certification and manufacturing as it tries to move a new capability into service faster. The agency also said the five participating U.S. companies are expected to be positioned to accept orders and scale deliveries within the upcoming budget year. If that timeline holds, ANCILLARY could push capabilities usually associated with larger Group 4 and Group 5 drones down to smaller units, including Army, Marine Corps, special operations and shipboard teams. The broader implication is clear: the U.S. military wants long-endurance, useful-payload drones that can be fielded quickly and operated in austere environments without extra launch and recovery gear.