Each year the US armed forces spend millions on drone technology, many of which are single use devices. In 2016, defensive applied sciences firm Dynetics was one of 4 companies awarded a Phase I contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop an experimental recoverable drone. In 2018, Dynetics became the sole company in the project with a Phase III contract and the X61-A Gremlin drone. The Gremlin will serve as a low cost, retrievable, augmentable mission ready drone for the US military.

The Gremlin is 13ft 9in long with an 11ft 5in wingspan. It weighs just under 1,500lbs and can support a payload upwards of 145lbs. It has a maximum speed of match 0.6 and is operational over a 350mile range. In theory, a swarm of Gremlins could be launched from the cargo hold of a manned aircraft within safe airspace. The drones can then be remotely piloted, or complete a preprogrammed autonomous mission, within enemy airspace. When the mission is complete, the drones would return to the aircraft for retrieval. This protects any humans from having to unnecessarily enter a dangerous situation, keeps US technology out of enemy hands, and saves millions of dollars with the deployment of reusable drones.

As of January 2020, Dynetics supplied DARPA with 5 completed Gremlins, with the first test flights commencing in November of 2019. On January 17, 2020, Dynetics and DARPA released footage of an initial retrieval test of the Gremlin from the US Army Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, the 3rd trial of the system in total. The drone was released from a specially designed mechanism on the underside of the wing of a C-130 Hercules cargo plane. Moments after being released, the drone’s engine powered up, and it began a 1hr 41min flight.

The final step of the trial was to use technology similar to how jets refuel midair to retrieve the Gremlin. Ground tests of the system had proven successful, however, things didn’t go quite as planned in the air. The drone was unable to align with the docking port trailing from the C-130’s cargo hold. Added to this was a parachute failure anomaly that led to the drone crashing. “We made great strides in learning and responding to technological challenges between each of the three test flight deployments to date,” says Scott Wierzbanowski, program manager for Gremlins in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office. “We were so close this time that I am confident that multiple airborne recoveries will be made in the next deployment. However, as with all flight testing, there are always real world uncertainties and challenges that have to be overcome.”

With 4 remaining operational Gremlins, Dynetics and DARPA used the data from the previous tests to make necessary system adjustments. Returning to Dugway in October 2021, the team set out to demonstrate that a C-130 can both launch and retrieve a Gremlin drone. The test was a great success, proving that the system is ready for the next stage of development. According to Dynetics’ Gremlins program manager Tim Keeter, this would be testing out an operationally relevant rate that would allow the C-130 to recover up to 4 drones in as little as 30min. Keeter and the rest of the Gremlin team are optimistic that this next level will be reached shortly. “Now we feel the momentum and the wind in our sails,” he said, “and we’re ready to get this thing moving towards an initial operational capability.”