DARPA awards three contracts for LongShot air-launched UAV program

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded contracts to General Atomics, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman for preliminary design work supporting the new LongShot program that seeks an air-launched unmanned aerial vehicle, DARPA announced in a press release today.

The UAVs will be able to employ multiple air-to-air weapons, extending the distance from which the military can attack adversary defenses and thus minimizing the risk to manned fighter jets.

"It is envisioned that LongShot will increase the survivability of manned platforms by allowing them to be at standoff ranges far away from enemy threats, while an air-launched LongShot UAV efficiently closes the gap to take more effective missile shots," the notice states.

Lt. Col. Paul Calhoun, DARPA's program manager for LongShot, said the initiative "changes the paradigm of air combat operations."

"LongShot will disrupt traditional incremental weapon improvements by providing an alternative means of generating combat capability," he added.

While this first phase of the program focuses on design, DARPA plans to eventually host a demonstration of a full-scale system capable of controlled flight before, during and after a weapon is released from the UAV.

The notice doesn't indicate when early designs will be finished or if the agency plans to down- select from its three contractors.