US military reveals TRANSFORMER DRONE "Ares" will be able to change into different vehicles mid-mission
A series of transformers-style drones that can can be used to carry cargo or even evacuate troops were unveiled by the Defense Department today.
The new concept images revealed on Tuesday show that the modular flying drones could adapt depending on the particular mission.
Like other drones, the vehicles can serve as unmanned flying machines but these new devices can also be used in a number of different instances as well.
The ARES, Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System, could also transport soldiers by dropping them off in dangerous warzones.
Or they can make cargo drops, delivering loads of supplies to areas that are too remote for cars and trucks to drive to.
Roadside bombs are one of the biggest threats to soldiers, with a heartbreaking total of 1,389 American soldiers having died to the blasts in Afghanistan alone since 2001.
Developers also think that they would be able to extract casualties from warzones.
The best and most mindboggling aspect of the machine is that the ARES will theoretically be able to switch from one function to another quite easily.
The machines are being built through a partnership between the US Defense and Davanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works.
They have been working on forms of this same project since 2009, and- fittingly- it has been titled the Transformer (TX) program.
'Many missions require dedicated vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) assets, but most ground units don't have their own helicopters,' DARPA program manager Ashish Bagai said
'ARES would make organic and versatile VTOL capability available to many more individual units.
'Our goal is to provide flexible, terrain-independent transportation that avoids ground-based threats, in turn supporting expedited, cost-effective operations and improving the likelihood of mission success.'
Gizmodo reports that a pair of ducted fans will help provide the push off the ground to allow it to propel, and then those same ducts would convert and push the air backwards, effectively bringing the vehicle both up and out.
The machines would be able to hold up to 3,000 pounds which equates to more than 40 per cent of the body's weight.
No projected start date has been released but DARPA has decided to move forward with the project.
The ARES is only the latest iteration of the Transformers TX development line, with an earlier 'flying humvee' that was announced in 2011.
At the time, the flying humvees were expected to be produced and out into the field by 2015 but there have been no updates.
The new concept images revealed on Tuesday show that the modular flying drones could adapt depending on the particular mission.
Like other drones, the vehicles can serve as unmanned flying machines but these new devices can also be used in a number of different instances as well.
The ARES, Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System, could also transport soldiers by dropping them off in dangerous warzones.
Or they can make cargo drops, delivering loads of supplies to areas that are too remote for cars and trucks to drive to.
Roadside bombs are one of the biggest threats to soldiers, with a heartbreaking total of 1,389 American soldiers having died to the blasts in Afghanistan alone since 2001.
Developers also think that they would be able to extract casualties from warzones.
The best and most mindboggling aspect of the machine is that the ARES will theoretically be able to switch from one function to another quite easily.
The machines are being built through a partnership between the US Defense and Davanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works.
They have been working on forms of this same project since 2009, and- fittingly- it has been titled the Transformer (TX) program.
'Many missions require dedicated vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) assets, but most ground units don't have their own helicopters,' DARPA program manager Ashish Bagai said
'ARES would make organic and versatile VTOL capability available to many more individual units.
'Our goal is to provide flexible, terrain-independent transportation that avoids ground-based threats, in turn supporting expedited, cost-effective operations and improving the likelihood of mission success.'
Gizmodo reports that a pair of ducted fans will help provide the push off the ground to allow it to propel, and then those same ducts would convert and push the air backwards, effectively bringing the vehicle both up and out.
The machines would be able to hold up to 3,000 pounds which equates to more than 40 per cent of the body's weight.
No projected start date has been released but DARPA has decided to move forward with the project.
The ARES is only the latest iteration of the Transformers TX development line, with an earlier 'flying humvee' that was announced in 2011.
At the time, the flying humvees were expected to be produced and out into the field by 2015 but there have been no updates.
Source : DailyMail, Darpa
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