- The Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency,
better known as DARPA, is at it again.
The R&D branch of the
Department of Defense
has a request for a proposal out
asking companies to submit
ideas for a vanishing drone.
That doesn't mean DARPA
wants an invisible drone
or a camouflage drone.
They also don't want a
drone that can drop in,
deliver a payload and then leave,
they want one that vanishes.
Puff, abracadabra style.
The project is called
the Inbound Controlled
Air-releasable Unrecoverable Systems,
or ICARUS for short.
Cute, right?
Icarus was the kid in great mythology
who literally flew to close to the sun,
which melted the wax holding
his man-made wings together.
DARPA wants a design for a one-use drone
that can fly into a location,
deliver small, delicate payloads,
and then destroy itself
without leaving any trace
it was ever there.
What would that be good for?
Well, imagine that you're
part o an elite fighting unit
closing in on an enemy position.
You require some supplies,
let's say, anti-venom.
The military sends you medicine
using a vanishing drone,
once the drone delivers the
payload, it disintegrates.
This allows the soldiers to continue on
without leaving evidence
that they were ever there.
A vanishing drone could also
deliver supplies for civilians,
or non-military personnel in
remote or dangerous areas.
There'll be no need to
pack up the vehicle,
or dismantle it to avoid it
becoming a hazard to wildlife,
or falling into enemy hands.
This could also increase
the range of the drone,
because you don't have to
conserve energy for a return trip.
DARPA wants the drone to be
able to carry small packages,
less than three pounds, or
about one and a half kilograms.
The vehicle must vanish
within four hours of delivery,
or withing half an hour
of morning civil twilight,
which I think involves vampires,
which ever comes first.
It must be able to travel about 90 miles,
or 150 kilometers, after
being released from a balloon
at an altitude of 35,000 feet,
which is about 10,700 meters
And the longest side of the
drone must be less than 10 feet,
or three meters.
DARPA is dedicating eight
million dollars to fund
this project over the next two years,
this is a pretty tall order.
The engineers will have
to design the vehicle,
electronics, plates and
subs, and power-source
to dissolve, or sublimate
safely and completely.
But it's not DARPAS problem
to figure out how to do it,
that's up to the companies that respond
to the request for a proposal.
That's all I have for now, right now.
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