Drones

ONR: Swarming UAVs Could Overwhelm Defenses Cost-Effectively

A demonstration to show whether autonomous, swarming small unmanned aircraft can overwhelm an adversary more cost-effectively than conventional weapon systems is planned for fiscal 2016 by the Office of Naval Research (ONR).

Under the Low-Cost UAV Swarming Technology (Locust) program, ONR plans to launch 30 Raytheon Coyotes from a ship off the coast of Florida, with the expendable UAVs rapidly forming a swarm and autonomously conducting a mission.